Henry M. Phillips Prize

Established in 1888 by a gift from Henry M. Phillips' sister to be used as an award for the best essay of real merit on the science and philosophy of jurisprudence. From 1986 to 1997, this award in jurisprudence recognized the most important publication in the field within a five-year period. In 1999, the criteria for the prize were raised to recognize outstanding lifetime contributions to the field of jurisprudence and the important publications, which illustrate that accomplishment. The first award using the current criteria was presented in 2000.

Recipients

2011

Jeremy James Waldron
"in recognition his intellectual leadership in political theory and legal philosophy, including in particular his exploration of such diverse themes as the nature and limits of rights supporting the institution of private property, a jurisprudence of legislation, and a defense of the equality of human beings developed out of Locke’s Christian-based theories of equality, which has brought him recognition as one of the world’s leading legal and political philosophers of his generation."

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The American Philosophical Society awarded the 2011 Henry M. Phillips Prize in Jurisprudence to Jeremy James Waldron. The citation read “in recognition his intellectual leadership in political theory and legal philosophy, including in particular his exploration of such diverse themes as the nature and limits of rights supporting the institution of private property, a jurisprudence of legislation, and a defense of the equality of human beings developed out of Locke’s Christian-based theories of equality, which has brought him recognition as one of the world’s leading legal and political philosophers of his generation.” The award was presented by the Society's Executive Officer, Mary Patterson McPherson, President Emerita, Bryn Mawr College.

The Henry M. Phillips Prize recognizes outstanding lifetime contributions to the field of jurisprudence and the important publications which illustrate that accomplishment. It was established in 1888 by a gift from his sister to be used as an award to honor "real merit on the science and philosophy of jurisprudence."

Dr. Waldron is University Professor of law and philosophy at the New York University School of Law, and the Chichele Professor in Social and Political Theory at Oxford University.  Waldron works in the fields of political theory and legal philosophy, and his output has been prodigious.  He has explored such diverse themes as the nature and limits of rights-based arguments in support of the institution of private property (The Right to Private Property); the case for legislation as a “dignified mode of governance and a respectable source of law” (The Dignity of Legislation); a jurisprudence of legislation  (Law and Disagreement); and a defense of the equality of human beings developed out of Locke’s Christian-based theories of equality, with modern implications (God, Locke, and Equality).

The Phillips Prize Selection Committee consisted of chair Herma Hill Kay, the Barbara Nachtrieb Armstrong Professor of Law and Former Dean of the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley; William T. Coleman, Jr., Senior Partner and Senior Counselor at O’Melveny & Myers; Ellen Ash Peters, Judge Trial Referee of the Connecticut Appellate Court and former Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court; and Louis Pollak, Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

2009

Martha Craven Nussbaum
“In recognition of her intellectual leadership in philosophy, law and religion, including in particular her development and application of a "capabilities approach" to justice in a variety of contexts including women's rights in developing countries and worldwide, of the disabled and the impaired, and animal species.”

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The American Philosophical Society awarded the 2009 Henry M. Phillips Prize in Jurisprudence to Martha Craven Nussbaum. The citation read “in recognition of her intellectual leadership in philosophy, law and religion, including in particular her development and application of a "capabilities approach" to justice in a variety of contexts including women's rights in developing countries and worldwide, rights of the disabled and the impaired, and rights of animal species.” The award was presented by Ellen Ash Peters, Judge Trial Referee of the Connecticut Appellate Court and Former Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, and a member of the Henry M. Phillips Prize selection committee.

The Henry M. Phillips Prize recognizes outstanding lifetime contributions to the field of jurisprudence and the important publications which illustrate that accomplishment. It was established in 1888 by a gift from his sister to be used as an award to honor "real merit on the science and philosophy of jurisprudence."

Martha Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics in the Law School, the Philosophy Department, and the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. She received her Ph.D. at Harvard University, and has taught at Harvard, Brown, and Oxford Universities. In the past thirty years, Professor Nussbaum has published fourteen books – four have won national prizes – and edited thirteen others. She has explored such diverse themes as the vulnerability of human development (in The Fragility of Goodness (1986)); the breadth of the concept of social justice (in Sex and Social Justice (1999)); the proposition that development goals must take account of human capabilities (in Women and Human Development (2000)), and most recently, the distinctively American tradition of religious equality (in Liberty of Conscience (2008)). Although she shows no signs of slowing down – she currently holds contracts for at least three other books – she has established herself as one of the most influential and distinguished scholars of her generation.

The selection committee consisted of Herma Hill Kay (chairman), Barbara Nachtrieb Armstrong Professor of Law and Former Dean of the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley; William T. Coleman, Jr., Senior Partner & The Senior Counselor at O'Melveny & Myers; Ellen Ash Peters, Judge Trial Referee of the Connecticut Appellate Court and former Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court; and Louis Pollak, Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

2007

Cass R. Sunstein
"In recognition of his intellectual leadership in Constitutional Law and Political Science, including in particular his profound research and writing demonstrating the complex interplay between jurisprudential constructs and the day by day resolution of legal conflicts."

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The 2007 recipient of the American Philosophical Society's Henry M. Phillips Prize in Jurisprudence is awarded to Cass R. Sunstein. The prize citation reads, "In recognition of his intellectual leadership in Constitutional Law and Political Science, including in particular his profound research and writing demonstrating the complex interplay between jurisprudential constructs and the day by day resolution of legal conflicts." In a recent illustrative article, he demonstrates how judges who embraced the judicial philosophy known as legal realism applied that philosophy in their review of day by day rule making by administrative agencies under the so-called Chevron doctrine.

Cass R. Sunstein is the Karl N. Lllewellyn Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Chicago Law School and in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He is a graduate of Harvard College and its Law School, magna cum laude. He is the author of more than 25 books and of an impressively large number of articles and essays. His books include After the Rights Revolution: Reconceiving the Regulatory State (1990), Constitutional Law, with Geoffrey Stone, Louis M. Seidman, and Mark Tushnet (1995), The Partial Constitution (1993), Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech (1993), Legal Reasoning and Political Conflict (1996), Free Markets and Social Justice (1997), Administrative Law and Regulatory Policy, with Justice Stephen Breyer, Professor Richard Stewart and Matthew Spitzer (1998), One Case At A Time (1999), Designing Democracy: What Constitutions Do (2001), Republic.com (2001), Risk and Reason (2002), The Cost-Benefit State (2002), Punitive Damages: How Juries Decide (2002), Why Societies Need Dissent (2003), The Second Bill of Rights (2004), and Laws of Fear: Beyond the Precautionary Principle (2005).

The Henry M. Phillips Prize recognizes outstanding lifetime contributions to the field of jurisprudence and the important publications which illustrate that accomplishment. It was established in 1888 by a gift from his sister to be used as an award to honor "real merit on the science and philosophy of jurisprudence."

The selection committee consisted of chairman Ellen Ash Peters, Judge Trial Referee and former Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court; Guido Calabresi, Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and former Dean of Yale University Law School; William T. Coleman, Jr., Senior Partner & The Senior Counselor at O'Melveny & Myers; Herma Hill Kay, Barbara Nachtrieb Armstrong Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law; and Louis H. Pollak, Judge of the United States District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

2005

Frank I. Michelman
"In recognition of his intellectual leadership in Constitutional Law and Property Law, including in particular his profound research and writing demonstrating the interplay between our own constitutional culture and that of other democratic countries similarly engaged in the pursuit of equal opportunity for all."
2002

Bruce A. Ackerman
"In recognition of his intellectual leadership in Constitutional Law, History, and Political Theory, including in particular his profound research and writing demonstrating the interplay between enduring values and continuing transformations that reflect the will of The People in our Constitutional system."
2000

Louis Henkin
"In recognition of his lifetime of scholarly research and writing to demonstrate that international human rights are more than noble aspirations to be enforced in the court of public opinion and are definable legal rights to be enforced in national and international tribunals."
1997

Joel Feinberg
for "The Moral Limits of the Criminal Law"
1994

Ronald Myles Dworkin
for "Law's Empire" and his other jurisprudential writings over the past quarter century.
1985

Samuel Edmund Thorne
for his annotated translation of Bracton's De Legibus Angliae
1980

Willard Hurst
for "Law and Social Order in the United States"
1976

Wolfgang Friedmann
for "Legal Theory" and "Law in a Changing Society"

Harry W. Jones
for "The Efficacy of Law" and "An Invitation to Jurisprudence," in Columbia Law Review
1974

John Rawls
for "A Theory of Justice"
1962

Karl N. Llewellyn
for "The Common Law Tradition: Deciding Appeals"
1960

Roscoe Pound
for contributions to the science and philosophy of jurisprudence culminating in his five-volume work entitled "Jurisprudence"
1957

Catherine Drinker Bowen
for "The Lion and the Throne"