We are delighted to announce that Associate Professor Benjamin McKean from our  department has been awarded the prestigious Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (CRISPP) Essay Prize for his outstanding contribution to scholarship in 2022. 

A statement about his writing and award was presented by the organization, 

“McKean’s ‘Kant, Coercion, and the legitimation of inequality’ makes an important contribution to our understanding of inequality. By challenging the claim that Kant’s view of inequality categorizes inequality as an injustice, McKean encourages skepticism about whether political freedom’s reliance on formal equality leaves intact inequalities in influence. He argues that Kant’s doctrine of right therefore lacks unequivocal support for the social welfare state. On McKean’s account, neoliberalism is a source of pernicious inequality that can be justified with reference to Kant’s view of political freedom and external freedom. To unequivocally classify these inequalities as unjust requires a conception of political freedom that insists on more than preventing coercion and addresses itself to the effect of inequalities for political freedom. 

The jury particularly appreciates that McKean’s interpretations are marshalled toward addressing a pervasive 21^st century dilemma that touches nearly all of us: widening economic inequality that is legitimated by some of the very reasoning that philosophers turn to when grounding arguments about social justice.”

The CRISPP Essay Prize is highly competitive, attracting submissions from scholars worldwide who are engaged in cutting-edge research across the fields of international social and political philosophy. McKean's success reflects not only his intellectual prowess but also the department's commitment to fostering innovative scholarship and pushing the boundaries of academic inquiry.

As a department, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to Associate Professor Benjamin McKean on this well-deserved honor.