The Lebowitz Prize for Philosophical Achievement and Contribution

About the Award

The Dr. Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize for philosophical achievement and contribution is awarded by the Phi Beta Kappa Society in conjunction with the American Philosophical Association. Each year, the award is presented to a pair of philosophers who hold contrasting views of an important philosophical question that is of current interest both to the field and to an educated public audience. The associated Lebowitz symposium is presented annually at a divisional meeting of the American Philosophical Association. To promote the discipline of philosophy to wider audiences, the Phi Beta Kappa Society also sponsors a public presentation featuring the prize winners. Both societies are grateful to Eve Lewellis Lebowitz for her generous bequest, honoring her late husband, Martin R. Lebowitz, and providing a significant, tangible recognition for excellence in philosophical thought. The dialogic character of the Lebowitz symposium and public presentation, supported by the Lebowitz bequest, emphasizes the historic work of philosophy as a process of inquiry. 

Prize Details

• The Lebowitz Symposium program shall ordinarily consist of two annual lectures to be delivered sequentially at a divisional meeting selected by the honorees, or lacking their agreement, by the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

• The topic of the lectures shall ordinarily be an important philosophical issue of current interest, with the lectures offering contrasting (not necessarily opposing) views on that topic. The Phi Beta Kappa Society will arrange a second presentation by both honorees in a location and format that is accessible to a wider public audience.

• Winners will be chosen by a committee appointed jointly by the Phi Beta Kappa Society and the American Philosophical Association and ratified by the Phi Beta Kappa Senate. In selecting the winners, the committee is encouraged to consider candidates who address important philosophical issues using diverse methodologies and perspectives and who, in so doing, are able to communicate important philosophical ideas to specialist and non-specialist audiences.

• ​Honoraria for the symposiasts are funded from the endowment created by the Lebowitzes' gift of $1 million; the amount gifted is $25,000 for each honoree.

• The winning submission will have the opportunity to be published in the Journal of the American Philosophical Association. Publication will be arranged by mutual agreement of the winners and the journal's editorial board.

• American Philosophical Association members are eligible to nominate or self-nominate. (Although prizewinners are required to be members of the American Philosophical Association, this membership may be arranged after the winners are selected.)