Leonard Cohen and Philosophy (2 page)

V
OLUME
68
The Walking Dead and Philosophy: Zombie Apocalypse Now
(2012) Edited by Wayne Yuen

V
OLUME
69
Curb Your Enthusiasm and Philosophy: Awaken the Social Assassin Within
(2012) Edited by Mark Ralkowski

V
OLUME
70
Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy: Raiding the Temple of Wisdom
(2012) Edited by Jon Cogburn and Mark Silcox

V
OLUME
71
The Catcher in the Rye and Philosophy: A Book for Bastards, Morons, and Madmen
(2012) Edited by Keith Dromm and Heather Salter

V
OLUME
72
Jeopardy! and Philosophy: What Is Knowledge in the Form of a Question?
(2012) Edited by Shaun P. Young

V
OLUME
73
The Wire and Philosophy: This America, Man
(2013) Edited by David Bzdak, Joanna Crosby, and Seth Vannatta

V
OLUME
74
Planet of the Apes and Philosophy: Great Apes Think Alike
(2013) Edited by John Huss

V
OLUME
75
Psych and Philosophy: Some Dark Juju-Magumbo
(2013) Edited by Robert Arp

V
OLUME
76
The Good Wife and Philosophy: Temptations of Saint Alicia
(2013) Edited by Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray and Robert Arp

V
OLUME
77
Boardwalk Empire and Philosophy: Bootleg This Book
(2013) Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison-Greene

V
OLUME
78
Futurama and Philosophy: Bite My Shiny Metal Axiom
(2013) Edited by Courtland Lewis and Shaun P. Young

V
OLUME
79
Frankenstein and Philosophy: The Shocking Truth
(2013) Edited by Nicolas Michaud

V
OLUME
80
Ender’s Game and Philosophy: Genocide Is Child’s Play
(2013) Edited by D.E. Wittkower and Lucinda Rush

V
OLUME
81
How I Met Your Mother and Philosophy: Being and Awesomeness
(2014) Edited by Lorenzo von Matterhorn

V
OLUME
82
Jurassic Park and Philosophy: The Truth Is Terrifying
(2014) Edited by Nicolas Michaud and Jessica Watkins

V
OLUME
83
The Devil and Philosophy: The Nature of His Game
(2014) Edited by Robert Arp

V
OLUME
84
Leonard Cohen and Philosophy: Various Positions
(2014) Edited by Jason Holt

I
N
P
REPARATION
:

Homeland and Philosophy
(2014) Edited by Robert Arp

Adventure Time and Philosophy
(2014) Edited by Nicolas Michaud

Girls and Philosophy
(2014) Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison-Greene

Justified and Philosophy
(2014) Edited by Rod Carveth and Robert Arp

For full details of all Popular Culture and Philosophy
^®
books, visit
www.opencourtbooks.com
.

Volume 84 in the series, Popular Culture and Philosophy
^®
, edited by George A. Reisch

This book has not been prepared, authorized, or endorsed by Leonard Cohen.

To order books from Open Court, call toll-free 1-800-815-2280, or visit our website at
www.opencourtbooks.com
.

Open Court Publishing Company is a division of Carus Publishing Company, dba Cricket Media.

Copyright © 2014 by Carus Publishing Company, dba Cricket Media

First printing 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Open Court Publishing Company, A division of Cricket Media, 70 East Lake Street, Suite 800, Chicago, Illinois 60601.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Leonard Cohen and philosophy / edited by Jason Holt.

          
pages cm. — (Popular culture and philosophy ; Volume 84)

Includes biographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8126-9882-4 (ebook) 1. Cohen, Leonard, 1934—Criticism and interpretation.
  
I. Holt, Jason, 1971-.

ML.410.C734L46 2014

782.42164092—dc23

2014016534

Contents

Acknowledgments

The Pop Star–Poet Paradox

I Songs of Existence

  
1.
  
Leonard Cohen as a Guide to Life

B
RENDAN
S
HEA

  
2.
  
The Existential Cohen

A
GUST
M
AGNUSSON

  
3.
  
Why Cohen’s Our Man

W
IELAND
S
CHWANEBECK

  
4.
  
The End of the World and Other Times in
The Future

G
ARY
S
HAPIRO

II Songs of Beauty

  
5.
  
Is Leonard Cohen a Good Singer?

J
ASON
H
OLT

  
6.
  
Covering Cohen

A
DAM
A
UCH

  
7.
  
Leonard and Lorca

E
DWARD
W
INTERS

III Songs of Love

  
8.
  
Irony as Seduction

C
HRISTOPHER
L
AUER

  
9.
  
The Mystery of the Mirror

L
ISA
W
ARENSKI

10.
  
Leonard Cohen on Romantic Love

S
IMON
R
ICHES

11.
  
Hallelujah and Atonement

B
ABETTE
B
ABICH

IV Songs of Literature

12.
  
Politics in
Beautiful Losers

S
TEVEN
B
URNS

13.
  
Writing Poetry after Auschwitz

P
AWEŁ
D
OBROSIELSKI AND
M
ARCIN
N
APIÓRKOWSKI

14.
  
Doom and Gloom in a Cloistered Room

L
IANE
H
ELLER

V Songs from a Mind

15.
  
Dear Heather
in a Dark Space

C
HRISTOPHER
K
ETCHAM

16.
  
Can You Touch Someone’s Body with Your Mind?

R
ACHEL
H
ALIBURTON

17.
  
Is a Tear an Intellectual Thing?

L
IAM
P. D
EMPSEY

VI Songs of Religion

18.
  
The Prophetic Mr. Cohen

T
IMOTHY
P. J
ACKSON

19.
  
Clouds of Unknowing

B
ERNARD
W
ILLS

20.
  
The Happy Memes of “Hallelujah”

P
ETER
S
TONE

References

Our Hands Bloody with Commas

Index

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Series Editor George Reisch, David Ramsay Steele, Kerri Mommer, and everyone at Open Court for their encouragement and support.

“The Unified Heart” and “The Blessing to End Disunity” symbols by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 1984, 2007 Leonard Cohen. Used by permission.

Excerpts from “The First Murder,” “My Old Layton,” “How It Happened in the Middle of the Day,” “A Migrating Dialogue,” “Folk,” and “Another Night with Telescope” from
Flowers for Hitler
by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 1964 Leonard Cohen. Reprinted by permission of McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company.

Excerpts from “Psalm 25,” “Psalm 29,” and “Psalm 40” from
Book of Mercy
by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 1984 Leonard Cohen. Reprinted by permission of McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company.

Excerpts from “Beneath My Hands,” “The Music Crept by Us,” “You Do Not Have to Love Me,” “You Have Sweetened Your Word,” “Israel,” and “All My Life” from
Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs
by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 1993 Leonard Cohen. Reprinted by permission of McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company.

Brief excerpts from “To a Young Nun” (p. 228), “The Luckiest Man in the World” (p. 228), “Moving into a Period” (p. 222), “All My News” (p. 223), and “Robert Appears Again” (p. 288), from
Book of Longing
by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 2006 Leonard Cohen. Reprinted by permission of McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company.

Brief excerpts from “To a Young Nun” (p. 228), “The Luckiest Man in the World” (p. 228), “Moving into a Period” (p. 222), “All My News” (p. 223), and “Robert Appears Again” (p. 288) from
Book of Longing
by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 2006 Leonard Cohen. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers (US).

Brief excerpts from “To a Young Nun” (p. 228), “The Luckiest Man in the World” (p. 228), “Moving into a Period” (p. 222), “All My News” (p. 223), and “Robert Appears Again” (p. 288) from
Book of Longing
by Leonard Cohen. Copyright © 2006 Leonard Cohen. Reprinted by permission of Penguin Books Ltd. (UK).

A SINGER MUST DIE

Written by Leonard Cohen

© 1974 Sony/ATV Songs LLC

All rights administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC., 424 Church Street,