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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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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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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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"