On Wednesday, September 11, 2024, the renowned political philosopher Prof. Dr. Seyla Benhabib was awarded the Theodor W. Adorno Prize 2024 in the Paulskirche Frankfurt am Main for her outstanding services to critical theory, political philosophy and democracy research. The prize, which is endowed with 50,000 euros, is awarded every three years on September 11, the birthday of Theodor W. Adorno.
The Board of Trustees describes Dr. Benhabib’s work as follows: “[…] At the center of Benhabib’s extensive body of work is the challenge of how societies can balance the universality of human rights with legitimate interests in alterity. The discourse-ethical instruments she has developed serve to overcome contradictions. In the sense of a moral universalism following Kant, Benhabib examines questions about the tense relationship between state sovereignty and globalization. In doing so, she adheres to the concept of universal human rights and the idea of the cosmopolitan with a critical-emancipatory intention. In both respects, it is crucial to understand the human condition in the plural: Only practical solidarity and practiced democracy make it possible to preserve the dignity of all people and at the same time maintain the conditions of human life. In a world whose tensions are manifest and increasingly crisis-ridden, Benhabib’s analyses are captivating in their clarity and coherence and her political demands in their adherence to a cosmopolitanism beyond interventionism and indifference. Her defense of universalist theory postulates a communicative ethics that understands practical philosophy as a dialogical process of an ‘expanded way of thinking’.”
Dr. Ina Hartwig, Head of the Department of Culture and Science, and Lord Mayor Mike Josef, member of the Adorno Prize Board of Trustees, report: “There could not have been a better winner for the Adorno Prize of 2024 than Seyla Benhabib. In her interpretation of universalism, she combines essential positions of critical theory with those of Hannah Arendt and develops a genuinely unique philosophical position that finds answers to central questions of our time. The glittering award ceremony on September 11th once again proved the Adorno Prize of the City of Frankfurt to be one of the great intellectual events in Germany.” We warmly congratulate Prof. Dr. Seyla Benhabib!
