Distinguished Professor is awarded the 2019 Lebowitz Prize for achievement in philosophy
Margaret P. Gilbert, Ph.D., UCI’s Abraham I. Melden Chair in Moral Philosophy and Distinguished Professor of philosophy, has been awarded the 2019 Dr. Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize for outstanding achievement in the field of philosophy. It includes an honorarium of $25,800. Gilbert’s research interests span diverse topics in social, political and moral philosophy; rights theory; and philosophy of law. A prolific author, she has written books exploring the philosophy of social phenomena, political obligation and rights. Her latest, Rights and Demands: A Foundational Inquiry (Oxford University Press, 2018), sheds light on the sources of “demand-rights.” A person with such a right has the standing or authority to demand of someone a certain action. In conjunction with the American Philosophical Association, the Phi Beta Kappa Society awards the Lebowitz Prize annually to two philosophers who hold contrasting views on a chosen subject of current interest in the field. Michael E. Bratman, Ph.D., the U.G. and Abbie Birch Durfee Professor in Stanford University’s School of Humanities and Sciences, also received the 2019 award. Gilbert and Bratman will discuss their respective views on the philosophical underpinnings of how two or more individuals come together in a collaborative effort – this year’s subject – at the April 2020 APA Pacific Division meeting in San Francisco. They’ll also be featured in an episode of the “Key Conversations with Phi Beta Kappa” podcast, produced by the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
