2022 Lebowitz Prize

The American Philosophical Association (APA) and Phi Beta Kappa are pleased to announce that Cristina Lafont, the Harold H. and Virginia Anderson Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University, and Alex Guerrero, Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University, have won the 2022 Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize for Philosophical Achievement and Contribution. Awarded annually by ΦBK in conjunction with the APA, this prize recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of philosophy. Each winner will be awarded an honorarium of $25,000.

The Lebowitz Prize was established in 2012 by a generous bequest from Eve Lewellis Lebowitz in honor of her late husband, Martin R. Lebowitz, a distinguished philosophical critic. Lebowitz Prize winners must be two philosophers who hold contrasting views on a chosen topic of current interest in philosophy. 

Cristina Lafont received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Frankfurt, Germany. Lafont has taught philosophy at Northwestern University since 1995. Her current research focuses on normative questions in political philosophy concerning democracy and citizen participation, global governance, human rights, religion, and politics. Her most recent book is Democracy without Shortcuts (Oxford University Press, 2020), and she has also published numerous articles in contemporary moral and political philosophy.

Alexander Guerrero received his Ph.D. in philosophy from New York University. Guerrero has taught philosophy at Rutgers University since 2016. His current research focuses on a variety of topics in moral, legal, and political philosophy, and in epistemology. His forthcoming book Lottocracy: A New Kind of Democracy (under contract with Oxford University Press) argues that lotteries should be used to select political officials rather than elections.

Professors Lafont and Guerrero’s topic for the 2022 Lebowitz Prize is “Democracy: What’s Wrong? What Should We Do?” They will present their views and engage in a dialogue at an annual Lebowitz symposium, held during an APA divisional meeting, and in an episode of the podcast Key Conversations with Phi Beta Kappa. 

Nominations and applications for the 2023 Lebowitz Prize will open in early fall 2022; the deadline is November 30, 2022. For more information visit pbk.org/Lebowitz.