Competition for the 2023 Sanders Prize in Political Philosophy is now open. Deadline for submissions is August 1, 2023.
The Marc Sanders Prize is an essay competition, sponsored by the Marc Sanders Foundation. It is open to scholars who, at the time of the submission deadline, are within fifteen (15) years of receiving a Ph.D. or are students currently enrolled in a graduate program. Independent scholars may also be eligible. The prize was awarded in 2015 and 2016, but, starting in 2017, it will be awarded only in odd years.
Past Recipients:
2023: Daniel Wodak
Daniel Wodak won the 2023 Sanders Prize in Political Philosophy for his paper "One One Person, One Vote." Wodak is associate professor of philosophy and associate professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania.
2021: Daniel Viehoff
Daniel Viehoff won the 2021 Sanders Prize in Political Philosophy for his paper "Challenging Democratic Commitments: Liberal Arguments for Instrumentalism about Democracy." Viehoff is assistant professor of philosophy at New York University.
2019: Helen Frowe
Helen Frowe won the 2019 Sanders Prize in Political Philosphy for her paper "The Duty to Save and the Duty to Minimise Harm”. Frowe is a Professor of Practical Philosophy and Wallenberg Academy Research Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at Stockholm University, where she directs the Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace.
2017: Fabian Wendt
Fabian Wendt, Bielefeld University won the 2017 Sanders Prize in Political Philosophy for his paper “Rescuing Public Justification from Public Reason Liberalism”. Wendt is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bielefeld University, specializing in political philosophy. Starting in October, 2017, he will be a Research Associate at Chapman University.
2016: Alex Zakaras
Alex Zakaras, University of Vermont, won the 2016 Sanders Prize in Political Philosophy for his paper “Complicity and Coercion: Towards an Ethics of Political Participation.” Zakaras is Associate Professor at the University of Vermont, specializing in political philosophy and the history of political thought. An honorable mention goes to Thomas Sinclair (University of Oxford), the runner-up for the prize. His paper was titled “The Power of Public Positions: Official Roles in Kantian Legitimacy.”
2015: Keith Hyams
Keith Hyams won the inaugural Sanders Prize in Political Philosophy. Hyams is Associate Professor of Political Theory and Interdisciplinary Ethics in the department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, where he teaches political theory and works with the Interdisciplinary Ethics Research Group.