Berggruen Prize

Last updated
Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture
Awarded forIdeas of broad significance for shaping human self-understanding and the advancement of humanity
Location Los Angeles, California, United States
Presented by Berggruen Institute
Reward(s)US$1,000,000
First award2016
Final award2023
Currently held by Patricia Hill Collins (2023)
Website Berggruen Institute

The Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture is a US$1-million award given each year to a significant individual in the field of philosophy. [1] It is awarded by the Berggruen Institute to "thinkers whose ideas have helped us find direction, wisdom, and improved self-understanding in a world being rapidly transformed by profound social, technological, political, cultural, and economic change." [2]

Contents

The Berggruen Prize was first awarded in 2016 with the overt purpose of becoming a "Nobel prize for philosophy". [3] [4] The first recipient of the Berggruen Prize was the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor, whose work "urges us to see humans as constituted not only by their biology or their personal intentions, but also by their existence within language and webs of meaningful relationships." [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

The prize is awarded annually in October, with a ceremony at the New York Public Library. In 2016, ceremony speakers included University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann and journalist Fareed Zakaria. [10] The ceremony honoring Japanese philosopher Kojin Karatani was held in Tokyo, Japan. [11] In 2024, the ceremony was held in Washington, D.C., at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, with journalist Michel Martin serving as a speaker. [12] [13]

Berggruen Prize Essay Competition

In 2024, The Berggruen Institute announced the annual Berggruen Prize Essay Competition. The competition welcomes essay submissions in English and Chinese, awarding $25,000 per language category. By delving into fundamental philosophical inquiries relevant to both the present and future, it aims to broaden the scope of our quest for fresh ideas and new paradigms during unprecedented times. This contest complements the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture which acknowledges significant lifelong contributions. [14]

Berggruen Prize Laureates

YearImageLaureateCountryCitationFields
2016 Charles Taylor (2019) (cropped).jpg Charles Taylor
(born 1931)
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada "whose work urges us to see humans as constituted not only by their biology or their personal intentions but also by their existence within language and webs of meaningful relationships." [15] Political philosophy, cosmopolitanism, hermeneutics, philosophy of religion, philosophical anthropology
2017 Official portrait of Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve (cropped2).jpg Onora O'Neill
(born 1941)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom for "her works have elevated the quality of public life and improved the very vocabulary of public discourse." [16] Political philosophy, ethics
2018 Martha Nussbaum 2010 (cropped2).jpg Martha Nussbaum
(born 1947)
Flag of the United States.svg  United States for "her transformative work as an academic philosopher into public debates about key questions of national and global political significance, making her one of the world's leading public philosophers." [17] Liberal theory, political philosophy, feminism, ethics, social liberalism
2019 Ruth Bader Ginsburg 2016 portrait cropped.jpg Ruth Bader Ginsburg
(1933–2020)
Flag of the United States.svg  United States for being "a lifelong trailblazer for human rights and gender equality and a constant voice for justice, equal and accessible to all." [18] Law, political science, feminism, liberalism, social justice
2020 Paul Farmer 2011 (cropped).jpg Paul Farmer
(1959–2022)
Flag of the United States.svg  United States "leader in the development of public anthropology, as well as in improving health care for the world's poorest people." [19] Internal medicine, infectious disease, medical anthropology
2021 Peter Singer 2017-01 (cropped).jpg Peter Singer
(born 1946)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia "for promoting the idea of 'effective altruism,' which encourages people to have reason, rather than empathy, guide their philanthropy." [20] Applied ethics, bioethics, utilitarianism, environmental ethics, philosophy of life
2022 Kojinkaratani (cropped).jpg Kojin Karatani
(born 1941)
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan for his "radically original contributions to modern philosophy, the history of philosophy, and political thinking—making Karatani’s work particularly valuable in the current era of troubled global capitalism, crisis in democratic states, and resurgent but seldom self-critical nationalism." [21] Political philosophy, history of philosophy, deconstruction, comparative literature, literary criticism
2023 PatriciaHillCollins.jpg Patricia Hill Collins
(born 1948)
Flag of the United States.svg  United States for how her work “provides a powerful analytical lens through which we can envision the different and intersecting ways in which our material, social, and cultural worlds produce injustice,” and has given us “original vocabulary with which to think about social power and contestation.” [22] Social theory, Sociology of knowledge, Feminism, Feminist sociology, Gender studies, Black feminism

Berggruen Prize Jury

Current Prize Jury Members

ImageJury [23] CountryDetailsEnteredOther Groups
David Chalmers TASC2008.JPG David Chalmers (b. 1966)Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science,
New York University
2018
Antonio Damasio no Fronteiras do Pensamento Porto Alegre 2013 cropped.png Antonio Damasio (b. 1944)Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Professor of Neuroscience, Psychology and Philosophy,
University of Southern California
2016Bio/Tech Futures
The Berggruen Network
Transformations of the Human Advisory Board
Yuk Hui.png
Yuk Hui Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong Professor of Philosophy,
Erasmus University Rotterdam
2020TofTH Senior Fellows
9.21.14SiriHustvedtByLuigiNovi2.jpg Siri Hustvedt (b. 1955)Flag of the United States.svg  United States Novelist, Poet, and Essayist;
Recipient, 2019 Princess of Asturias Awards for Literature
2021The Berggruen Network
Pratap Mehta at the India Economic Summit 2009 cropped.jpg Pratap Bhanu Mehta (b. 1967)Flag of India.svg  India Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching2021The Berggruen Network
ElifShafak creditZeynelAbidin.jpg Elif Shafak (b. 1971)Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Novelist, Essayist, and Activist;
Recipient, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
2018Noema Magazine Editorial Board
Wang Hui, Berlin 2016.jpg Wang Hui (b. 1959)Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Professor of Chinese Language, Literature, and History,
Tsinghua University
2016The Berggruen Network

Berggruen Prize Jury Emeriti

ImageJury [24] CountryDetailsEnteredWithdrewOther Groups
Kwame Anthony Appiah by David Shankbone.jpg Kwame Anthony Appiah (b. 1954)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana
Professor of Philosophy and Law,
New York University
20162022The Berggruen Network

[25]

Leszek Borysiewicz.jpg Leszek Borysiewicz (b. 1951)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Vice Chancellor, University of Cambridge 20162020The Berggruen Network
Amy Gutmann, U.S. Ambassador 2.jpg Amy Gutmann (b. 1949)Flag of the United States.svg  United States President of the University of Pennsylvania 20162021The Berggruen Network
Amartya Sen 2012.jpg Amartya Sen (b. 1933)Flag of India.svg  India
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Professor of Economics and Philosophy, Harvard University;
Recipient, 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
20162020The Berggruen Network
Blank.png Alison Simmons (b. 1965)Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University 20162021The Berggruen Network
A Michael Spence.jpg Michael Spence (b. 1943)Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Professor of Economics and Business, New York University;
Recipient, 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
20162020The Berggruen Network
George Yeo by Michael Wuertenberg.jpg George Yeo (b. 1954)Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore Former Foreign Minister of Singapore
Senior Adviser to both Kuok Group and Kerry Logistics Network
20162020The Berggruen Network

See also

References

  1. Hermann, Julia; Hopster, Jeroen; Kalf, Wouter; Klenk, Michael (June 16, 2020). Philosophy in the Age of Science?: Inquiries Into Philosophical Progress, Method, and Societal Relevance. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN   978-1-5381-4284-4.
  2. "The Berggruen Prize". The Berggruen Institute. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  3. Forbes, Miguel. "Berggruen Institute Launches $1M Nobel Prize for Philosophy". Forbes. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  4. "A Nobel Prize for Philosophy? (updated) – Daily Nous". dailynous.com. 8 October 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  5. "Think Tank Creates $1 Million Philosophy Prize Because 'Ideas Matter'". huffingtonpost.com. September 24, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  6. "Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog: New Berggruen Institute for Philosophy and Culture, plus an annual $1 million prize". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  7. "Nicolas Berggruen's $1 Million Philosophy Prize – artnet News". Archived from the original on October 9, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  8. Schuessler, Jennifer (October 4, 2016). "Canadian Philosopher Wins $1 Million Prize". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  9. Rothman, Joshua. "How to Restore Your Faith in Democracy", The New Yorker, November 11, 2016.
  10. Gordon, Amanda L. "Billionaire’s Supper Club Directs Philosopher’s Arrow at Trump", Bloomberg, December 2, 2016.
  11. Ishida, Yuki (December 9, 2022). "Kojin Karatani the 1st Asian to win 'Nobel Prize for philosophy'". The Asahi Shimbun.
  12. Ross, Janell (2023-10-25). "A Conversation With the Winner of a $1M Philosophy Prize". TIME. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  13. "Dr. Patricia Hill Collins Awarded Berggruen Prize at Ceremony in Washington, D.C. – Berggruen Institute". www.berggruen.org. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  14. "Berggruen Prize Essay Competition". Berggruen Institute.
  15. "McGill philosopher Charles Taylor wins $1M Berggruen Prize | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  16. Jennifer Schuessler (October 3, 2017). "Onora O'Neill Wins $1 Million Berggruen Prize for Philosophy". The New York Times .
  17. Schuessler, Jennifer (30 October 2018). "Martha Nussbaum Wins $1 Million Berggruen Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  18. Schuessler, Jennifer (23 October 2019). "Ruth Bader Ginsburg Wins $1 Million Berggruen Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  19. "Paul Farmer is Awarded the $1 Million Berggruen Prize" . Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  20. Schuessler, Jennifer (2021-09-07). "Peter Singer Wins $1 Million Berggruen Prize". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  21. "Kojin Karatani Wins $1 Million Berggruen Prize". The New York Times . 8 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  22. "$1 Million Berggruen Philosophy Prize Awarded to Patricia Hill Collins". Berggruen Institute . 22 October 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  23. Berggruen Prize Jury berggruen.org
  24. Emeriti Jurors, Berggruen Prize berggruen.org
  25. "Kwame Anthony Appiah", Berggruen Institute.