Cristina Lafont, the Harold H. and Virginia Anderson Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern, has received the 2022 Dr. Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize for Philosophical Achievement and Contribution. This prize, awarded to two academics with opposing views by the Phi Beta Kappa Society (PBK), recognizes those who have demonstrated significant achievement in the field of philosophy.
The awardees both receive $25,000 and will present a lecture to the public during an event sponsored by the PBK. The topic for the 2022 Lebowitz Prize is “Democracy: What’s Wrong? What Should We Do?” Lafont will present her views and engage in a dialogue with Lebowitz Prize winner Alexander Guerrero at an annual Lebowitz symposium, held during an APA divisional meeting, and in an episode of the podcast Key Conversations with Phi Beta Kappa.
“It is a great honor for me to receive this award. I am looking forward to engaging in a discussion about the future of democracy with my colleague Alex Guerrero,” said Lafont.
Lafont has taught philosophy at Northwestern since 1995. Her research “focuses on normative questions in political philosophy concerning democracy and citizen participation, global governance, human rights, religion and politics.” Lafont also directs the Program in Critical Theory at Weinberg College and is co-director of the Research Group on Global Capitalism and Law. 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.
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.