UChicago Law Professor Awarded Berggruen Prize

CHICAGO — A University of Chicago professor has won the 2018 Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture. Martha C. Nussbaum — a law professor, author and moral philosopher — will receive the $1 million prize at a private gala at the New York City Library next month for her ideas that have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement in a rapidly changing world, according to a news release.

Nussbaum is the author of a New York Times best-selling book, “The Monarchy of Fear,” which discusses the political polarization and lack of listening in the United States during the current political climate.

Also the author of a Washington Post op-ed about male rage during the recent Brett Kavanaugh hearings, Nussbaum is considered one of the foremost public philosophers who has transcended academia to address key concerns about politics in the modern era, the release states.

She was selected for the prestigious honor by the Berggruen Prize Jury, who looked at more than 500 nominees overall and a shortlist of five that included some of the world’s most renowned thinkers in various fields like sociology, global justice, animal rights and bioethics.

“Martha C. Nussbaum is rather heroic in the way that she transcends academia. She has taken her transformative and relatable work into public debates about the key questions of national and global political significance. By challenging us to look closely at the capability of humans, as well as our emotions, she has given us strategies for hope and connectivity,” Berggruen Institute Founder and Chairman Nicolas Berggruen said. “I am delighted the jury has chosen to award a philosopher who opens windows to other disciplines for this enables us to better understand ourselves and our world.”

Nussbaum has authored and edited more than 20 books.

“Few philosophers combine depth and lucidity with elegant and moving prose. I don’t believe any other contemporary philosopher combines these virtues with as great an ability to address and influence a wide public,” Berggruen Jury Prize Chair Kwame Anthony Appiah said.

Photo courtesy of University of Chicago Law School