Lou Marinoff

Professor

Main Affiliation

Philosophy

Additional Departments/Affiliated Programs

Asian Studies Program

Areas of Expertise/Research

  • Asian Philosophy
  • Philosophical Practice

Building

North Academic Center

Office

5/136

Phone

212-650-7647

Email

lmarinoff@ccny.cuny.edu

Website

https://www.loumarinoff.com/

Lou Marinoff

Profile

Lou Marinoff - a Commonwealth Scholar originally from Canada - studied theoretical physics at Concordia and McGill universities, and earned a PhD in Philosophy of Science at University College London. Following postdoctoral research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a lectureship at the University of British Columbia, he joined The City College of New York in 1994, where he is currently Professor of Philosophy.

Lou publishes in decision theory, computer modeling of rational and moral agency, global ethics, philosophy of science, Chinese philosophy, Indian philosophy, Buddhism, and philosophical practice. He is founding president of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association (APPA), and editor of its journal Philosophical Practice.

Lou has authored several internationally bestselling books that apply philosophy to everyday life, including Plato Not Prozac, translated into twenty-seven languages.

Lou collaborates with think-tanks and leadership forums such as the Aspen Institute, Biovision (Lyon), Festival of Thinkers (Abu Dhabi), Horasis (Zurich), the Institute for Local Government (at the University of Arizona), Soka Gakkai International (Tokyo), Strategic Foresight Group (Mumbai), and the World Economic Forum (Davos).

Lou has appeared in five documentary films, two of which feature professional sports. A three-time Canadian Open Table Hockey champion (1978,79, 80) and US Open Champion (2015), he continues to play and promote the sport as conducive to developing attention span and sportsmanship in children: an antidote to ADHD and bullying alike. The Wall Street Journal agrees, reporting in 2012 that table hockey is making a comeback.

Full CV here.

Lou's hobbies include photography, classical guitar, and tennis.

Publications

Recent Publications

Books:
 
2026: Paradoxes of Rationality, Probability and Utility: Slaying Decision Theory’s Dragons. Anthem Press, New York · London · Delhi · Melbourne, in the press.
 
2024: Fernando: Beethoven of the Guitar: Books I, II & III Complete. Waterside Productions, San Diego, CA.
 
2022: Essays on Philosophy, Praxis and Culture: An Eclectic, Provocative and Prescient Collection. Anthem Press, New York · London · Delhi · Melbourne.
 
2019: On Human Conflict: The Philosophical Foundations of War and Peace, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD.
 
Papers:
 
2026: “War and the Human Condition”, in Philosophy of the Human Condition, edited by Lydia Amir, Brill, Leiden, Netherlands, forthcoming. 
 
2026: “The Arts as Philosophical Practice”, in The Arts in Philosophical Practice: Prospects, Perspectives and Practices, edited by Jeanette Knox, Bloomsbury, London, in the press.
 
2025: “The Noosphere, AI and Dehumanization: Cautionary Tales, and Re-humanization of Humanity”, Philosophia, in the press. 
 
2025: “Eastern Philosophies as Incorporated in the West,” in Handbook of Transformative Philosophies, edited by Lydia Amir, Springer, New York, in the press. 
 
2023: “Philosophical Practice During the Pandemic: Dancing in the Noosphere,” HASER: Revista Internacional de Filosofía Aplicada, 14, 129-157. 
 
2022: “Preface,” in Research on Contemporary Philosophical Counseling, by Zhang Lizeng, China Social Sciences Press, Beijing, 1-6. 
 
2022: “Philosophical Counseling,” in A Companion to Public Philosophy, (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy Series) edited by Lee McIntyre, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, 290-302. 
 
2022: “Philosophy without a Philosopher,” in Routledge Handbook on the Philosophy of Meditation, edited by Rick Repetti, Routledge, Abingdon, UK, 227-240. 
 
2022: “Of Coconuts and Beings: Odd Implications of a Diophantine Problem,” Yearbook for the Philosophy of Humor, ed. Lydia Amir, De Gruyter, Berlin, 257-70. 
 
2021: “Enlisting Humor to Teach Philosophy,” in Teach with a Sense of Humor, edited by Kishor Vaidya, The Curious Academic Publishing, Canberra, Australia, E-book, Chapter 11. 
 
2021: “Philosophical Practice: Philosophy from Theory to Practice and from Academy to Life—An Interview with Xiaojun Ding”. Journal of Anhui University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), Vol. 45, No. 2, 17-24. 
 
2020: “Diamonds Are Forever: Reflections on the 60th Anniversary of President Ikeda's Worldwide Peace Travels,” in The Book of Friends, edited and published by Soka Gakkai International USA, Santa Monica, 60-62 (Japanese), 68-71 (English).
 
2020: “Last Laughs and Dead Ends: How to Get Death's Goat, or Let's Put the ‘Yin’ Back in ‘Dying’,” Yearbook for the Philosophy of Humor, ed. Lydia Amir, De Gruyter, Berlin, 195-209.