Raphael Cohen-Almagor (born 1961) is an Israeli/British academic.
Cohen-Almagor received his D.Phil. in political theory from Oxford University in 1991, and his B.A. and M.A. from Tel Aviv University (both magna cum laude). In 1992–1995 he lectured at the Hebrew University Law Faculty. In 1995–2007 he taught at the University of Haifa Law School, Department of Communication, and Library and Information Studies University of Haifa. In 2019, he was distinguished visiting professor to the Faculty of Laws, University College London (UCL). In 2023, he is the Olof Palme Visiting Professor at Lund University, Sweden.
Raphael has served in various organisations, including as chairperson of “The Second Generation to the Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance” Organization in Israel; founder and director of the Medical Ethics Think-tank at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute; member of the Israel Press Council, chairperson of library and information studies, and founder and director of Center for Democratic Studies, both at the University of Haifa. Cohen-Almagor was the Yitzhak Rabin – Fulbright Visiting Professor at UCLA School of Law and Dept. of Communication, visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University, and Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Presently he is chair in politics at the University of Hull, United Kingdom, and director of the Middle East Study Group. In 2008–2009 he served as acting deputy dean for research at Hull Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. In June 2023, Cohen-Almagor was elected President of the Association of Israel Studies, an international scholarly association that was established in the United States in 1984 and is currently based in Israel.
Cohen-Almagor has published numerous articles and book chapters in the fields of political science, law, Israel studies, philosophy, media ethics, medical ethics, education, sociology, and history. Since 2000, he has been writing a monthly blog on Israeli politics, human rights concerns, scientific developments, the arts and other issues.
Concern and Respect
Concern and respect are reiterated themes in Cohen-Almagor's scholarship. He argues that we should give equal consideration to the interest of others and grant equal respect to a person's life objects so long as they do not deliberately undermine the interests of others by interfering in a disrespectful manner. The popular culture of a democratic society is committed to seeking the influence of social cooperation that can be discerned on the basis of mutual respect between free and equal individuals. This line of reasoning should be supplemented, so Cohen-Almagor maintains, by our emphasis on the notion of concern, which is seen as the value of well-being. We ought to show equal concern for each individual's good, to acknowledge that human beings are not only rational creations but irrational, emotional creatures. In the context of medical ethics, treating people with concern means treating them with empathy – viewing people as human beings who may be a furious and frustrated while, at the same time, are capable of smiling and crying, of careful decision-making, and of impulsive reactions. Concern means giving equal weight to a person's life and autonomy. This is a combination of mind, body, and communication between the agent and those around her bed.
In his article, “On the Philosophical Foundations of Medical Ethics: Aristotle, Kant, JS Mill, and Rawls”, Cohen-Almagor argues that people should be respected qua being persons and should never be exploited. Human beings are objects of respect. Following Kant, Cohen-Almagor maintains that people are not subjective ends but are objective ends. People are beings whose existence in itself is an end, and this end should be promoted and safeguarded.
Death with Dignity
Cohen-Almagor is a strong proponent of physician-assisted suicide and equally strong critic of euthanasia. Drawing on the various ethical, medical and legal considerations as well as on the experiences of the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Oregon, he argues that on some occasions not only passive euthanasia may be allowed but also physician-assisted suicide. People should have the ability to control the time and place of their death. Cohen-Almagor's thesis is that people, as autonomous moral agents, deserve to be treated with dignity. To treat a person with dignity requires respecting her choices and life decisions.