APS Awards 2025 Patrick Suppes Prize in Philosophy of Science, largest book prize in Philosophy, to Dr. Alyssa Ney

The American Philosophical Society has awarded the 2025 Patrick Suppes Prize in Philosophy to Dr. Alyssa Ney for her book The World in the Wave Function: A Metaphysics for Quantum Physics (Oxford University Press, 2021). The Suppes Prize, which rotates annually between topics in philosophy, psychology, and the history of science and which includes a $20,000 prize, recognizes outstanding contributions to philosophy, and particularly the philosophy of science, published within the preceding five years.

The selection committee, which includes APS Members, John Dupré (Chair), Anita Allen, Nancy D. Cartwright, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Bruce Kuklick, and Richard Shiffrin, lauded The World in the Wave Function for its exemplary handling of the relation between the scientific and philosophical sides of quantum mechanics, introducing metaphysics in a constructive, informative, and accessible way. In particular, the committee acknowledged the challenges in reconciling the success of quantum mechanics with its implications about the world. Describing Dr. Ney’s work as among the “most outstanding contributions to the philosophy of science” in recent years, the committee hailed The World in the Wave Function as accessible to both experts and to those interested in better understanding a complex world.

In her book, Ney explores wave function realism, situating the ideas of separability and locality—features of the human perspective of the world—against alternative philosophical interpretations. She tackles large questions, such as the correlation between the three-dimensional world of classical physics and the wave function, which seemingly describes a field on a high dimensional plane. She argues that the universe is the evolution of the wave function in a high dimensional space and our everyday view of things must be reconciled with this. “The wave function is not a mere quantum hypothesis, it’s the stuff of the universe,” she writes, finding “our world of tables and chairs, stars and planets, people and measuring devices in the wave function...”

Alyssa Ney is the Chair and Professor of Metaphysics in the Faculty of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, and Religious Studies at Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich. She will speak at the APS on Thursday, November 6 and will formally receive the Patrick Suppes Prize on November 14, 2025 at the APS General Meeting, held in San Diego, CA.

“Patrick Suppes, a long-time Member of the American Philosophical Society (elected 1991), was a pre-eminent scholar of the 20th century, with fundamental contributions to many fields including psychology, decision making, philosophy of science, the theory of measurement, the foundations of quantum mechanics, education and education technology,” shares Richard Shiffrin, who has served as a general chair of the Suppes Prize committee since 2017. Suppes began awarding prizes in 2011, while still alive, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary thought within science and philosophy. Upon his death in 2014, Suppes endowed the APS to continue awarding prizes in recognition of leading scholars in the fields of philosophy, psychology, and the history of science. “It is a great honor to receive the Patrick Suppes Prize. Thank you to the APS Membership” Dr. Ney said.

Short-listed finalists for the 2025 Patrick Suppes Prize:

Ned Block, The Border Between Seeing and Thinking (Oxford University Press, 2023)

Marco J. Nathan, Black Boxes: How Science Turns Ignorance Into Knowledge (Oxford University Press, 2021)

John Norton, The Material Theory of Induction (University of Calgary Press, 2021)

Previous recipients of the Patrick Suppes Prize in Philosophy have included Craig Callendar for his book What Makes Time Special? and Sabina Leonelli for her book Data-Centric Biology, both in 2022, and a 2019 award for Peter Godfrey-Smith’s book Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life. Read more about the prize and other past winners.

The APS began awarding medals in 1790, namely, the Magellanic Premium— the nation’s oldest medal for scientific achievement. Since then, it has continued awarding medals and prizes for outstanding achievement in the sciences, humanities, arts, professions, and public service. Currently the Society makes 10 annual or semiannual awards.