Eliya Cohen is a PhD candidate at Princeton University working primarily on philosophical logic, metaphysics, and applied ethics, with strong side interests in Epicurean physics, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of language.
What are you working on right now?
My dissertation focuses on the use of inference to the best explanation (IBE) in logic, metaphysics, and ethics. The really ambitious question I’d die to have an answer to is, in virtue of what is IBE a cogent principle of reasoning in a given domain? That question is quite broad, so I’ve been narrowing it down and focusing in part on higher-order logic and metaphysics (where a lot of IBE arguments have come up).
In one chapter, I extend some formal work Peter Fritz has done on propositional contingentism, the view that it’s contingent what propositions exist. (You might think, for instance, that if you had failed to exist there wouldn’t be any propositions about you. If that conditional is true and you think you could have failed to exist, you’re a propositional contingentist.) I extend Fritz’s logic and model theory and have been writing up some metalogical results, mainly incompleteness proofs. That’s just a little taste of the formal part of the dissertation.
I have a number of other projects outside of my dissertation. One broad question that’s been gripping me recently is whether there are cases of permissible exploitation. I’ve been looking the most at exploitation in the video game industry, where there have been a lot of complaints about video game monetization. The main offenders have been microtransactions (exchanges of small amounts of money for virtual goods usually presented to the player in-game) and loot boxes (features of games that have some resemblance to gambling). I’ve been attempting to clarify these complaints, understand if they’re correct, why, and to what extent. A taste of one of my ideas can be found here.
If you could have a one-hour conversation with any philosopher or historical figure from any time, who would you pick and what topic would you choose?
Epicurus and the collision, contact, and individuation of atoms and minima. I’ve been thinking about and working on Epicurean physics and methodology for several years now. I find the whole system endlessly fascinating and would love a chance to really know exactly what Epicurus thought.
What three things are on your bucket list that you’ve not yet accomplished?
Get a Ph.D, compose a song for a video game, and own a drum set.
What is your favorite book of all time? (Or top 3). Why? To whom would you recommend them?
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. “The bounties of space, of infinite outwardness, were three: empty heroics, low comedy, and pointless death.” I would recommend Sirens to nearly anyone, maybe especially someone who is a little bit of a question mark themselves. Vonnegut’s style is very readable and has a mix of everything. It’s as dark and sad as it is light and comical, disgusting as it is beautiful, fantastical as is it real.
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. “I was the shadow of the waxwing slain/ By the false azure of the windowpane;/ I was the smudge of ashen fluff – and I/ Lived on, flew on in the reflected sky.” I would only recommend Pale Fire to someone if I were interested in figuring out a little more about how they think. How/in what order did they read the piece? Did they think the poem purposefully bad or purposefully good?
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemmingway. “Isn’t it pretty to think so?” I fell in love with this book in high school, and I would always recommend it to people but they never really seemed to like it. I still recommend it…
What is your favorite film of all time? (Or top 3). Why? To whom would you recommend them?
I don’t know if it still is, but the first film I called my favorite was The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. My sister and I watched it endlessly as kids. I loved everything about it, but I think it was Ennio Morricone’s music that really enchanted me the most. “The ecstasy of gold” is ecstasy.
Can I tell you the strangest movie I enjoyed? Raw. (Don’t look it up. I’m sorry.)
Some other really important ones to me: Thelma and Louise. I love the ride AND die friendship.
Seven Samurai. I re-watched a few Akira Kurosawa films after I played through Ghost of Tsushima last year. The game developers dedicated a whole visual mode to Akira Kurosawa’s film style. It’s a truly gorgeous game.
Also, basically anything Stanley Kubrick has made.
I recommend all the movies I mentioned to everyone, except Raw. I recommend that to no one.
This section of the APA Blog is designed to get to know our fellow philosophers a little better. We’re including profiles of APA members that spotlight what captures their interest not only inside the office, but also outside of it. We’d love for you to be a part of it, so please contact us via the interview nomination form here to nominate yourself or a friend.
Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
