The 2026 Lebowitz Prize has been awarded to philosophers Felipe De Brigard and Sarah Robins for their work on “The Distinctiveness of Memory.” Announced on August 25 and 26, 2026, the honor recognizes their philosophical contributions to understanding what sets memory apart from other forms of mental experience. Each recipient will receive a $25,000 honorarium.
Administered by a philosophical society in partnership with a professional philosophical association, the prize will be featured at a symposium during a Pacific Division meeting in Portland from March 24 to 27, 2027. For you, the event offers a closer look at a deceptively familiar question: what makes remembering different from imagining, perceiving, or simply knowing?
Key Takeaways
- Felipe De Brigard and Sarah Robins received the 2026 Dr. Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize for their work on “The Distinctiveness of Memory.” Each recipient will receive a $25,000 honorarium.
- The prize centers on whether memory is a distinctive mental capacity or can be fully explained through its connections to imagination, perception, belief, and knowledge.
- De Brigard and Robins bring complementary perspectives to questions about how memory reconstructs the past and shapes personal identity, experience, responsibility, and knowledge.
- Their work will be featured at a symposium during the Pacific Division meeting in Portland, Oregon, March 24–27, 2027; nominations for the 2027 prize are due November 30, 2026.
Introduction To The 2026 Lebowitz Prize
Felipe De Brigard and Sarah Robins received the 2026 Lebowitz Prize for their contrasting perspectives on “The Distinctiveness of Memory,” as reported in August 2026. The award’s full name is the Dr. Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize for Philosophical Achievement and Contribution. It is administered by a philosophical society in conjunction with a professional philosophical association. Their selection recognizes work on a central question in contemporary philosophy: what, if anything, makes memory different from other mental capacities, such as imagination, perception, or reasoning? By bringing two distinct approaches to the same topic into conversation, the prize highlights philosophical disagreement as a productive way to deepen understanding.
For you as a reader following current philosophy, the 2026 award offers a focused entry point into debates about how people retain, reconstruct, and use the past. Memory matters not only to theories of mind, but also to questions about personal identity, knowledge, responsibility, and the reliability of experience. Each recipient will receive a $25,000 honorarium, and their perspectives will be presented at a symposium during a Pacific Division meeting in March 2027. The recognition therefore marks both an important scholarly achievement and an opportunity to see how contemporary philosophers use one problem to test broader ideas about human thought.
2026 Lebowitz Prize Winners
Felipe De Brigard and Sarah Robins have been named the 2026 recipients of the Dr. Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize for Philosophical Achievement and Contribution. The recipients were announced in an official 2026 prize report on September 3, 2026, in recognition of their work on “The Distinctiveness of Memory.” Each philosopher will receive a $25,000 honorarium. The prize is administered by a philosophical society in conjunction with a professional philosophical association.
Their research gives you two complementary perspectives on how memory works and why it matters philosophically. De Brigard examines the relationship between memory, imagination, and personal identity, while Robins studies the nature of remembering and how memory can be understood as a distinctive form of mental activity. Together, their work explores whether memory simply preserves the past or actively shapes how you understand yourself and your experience. The award highlights the growing importance of memory studies in contemporary philosophy.
The Distinctiveness Of Memory
The 2026 Lebowitz Prize has been awarded to Felipe De Brigard and Sarah Robins for work connected with “The Distinctiveness of Memory.” Administered by a philosophical society in conjunction with a professional philosophical association, the prize centers on a question you can recognize from everyday experience: what makes remembering different from imagining, perceiving, or simply holding a belief? A memory may involve an image or support a belief, yet the philosophical issue is whether those features fully explain what remembering is. The award therefore directs attention to memory as a mental capacity with its own character and challenges.
De Brigard and Robins are best understood here as contributors whose perspectives illuminate the same question from different angles, not as representatives of a simple opposing pair. The cited announcement identifies the shared prize topic but does not, by itself, establish a detailed contrast between their arguments, so you should avoid attributing unsupported positions to either philosopher. For you as a reader, that restraint keeps the focus on the broader problem: whether memory should be explained through its links to other mental capacities or understood as distinctive in its own right. Their work will receive further discussion at a Pacific Division meeting in Portland, scheduled for March 24 to 27, 2027.
2027 Lebowitz Prize Symposium
The 2026 Lebowitz Prize recognizes Felipe De Brigard and Sarah Robins for their work on “The Distinctiveness of Memory.” You can hear the recipients present their ideas and take part in the ensuing discussion at a Pacific Division meeting, scheduled for March 24 to 27, 2027, in Portland, Oregon. The prize is formally known as the Dr. Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize for Philosophical Achievement and Contribution. It is administered by a philosophical society in conjunction with a professional philosophical association.
The symposium also gives you a direct look at how the prize’s paired-recipient format can encourage philosophical exchange. Rather than presenting a single perspective, the event brings two scholars into conversation around a shared topic, allowing you to compare their approaches and follow the questions that emerge between them. If you are considering future nominations, keep in mind that submissions for the 2027 prize are due November 30, 2026. The upcoming meeting therefore offers both a discussion of the 2026 recipients’ work and a timely point of reference for the next award cycle.
Conclusion On The 2026 Lebowitz Prize
The 2026 Dr. Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize for Philosophical Achievement and Contribution recognizes Felipe De Brigard and Sarah Robins for advancing the debate over “The Distinctiveness of Memory.” Announced in 2026 by a philosophical society in conjunction with a professional philosophical association, the award highlights work that asks what separates memory from imagination, knowledge, and other forms of mental representation. De Brigard approaches the issue through the constructive and cognitive dimensions of remembering, while Robins examines memory’s philosophical, scientific, and epistemic significance. For you as a reader, their recognition shows how one question can generate productive answers across different philosophical approaches.
The conversation will continue at the recipients’ symposium during a Pacific Division meeting, scheduled for March 24 through 27, 2027, in Portland. That appearance will give you an opportunity to see De Brigard and Robins develop their arguments and respond to discussion surrounding the prize topic. After the 2026 selection, attention will also turn to the next nomination cycle, which is expected to open in the coming months. You can follow official award updates for nomination details and future announcements.
Meet the 2026 Lebowitz Prize Winners
The 2026 Lebowitz Prize has been awarded to Felipe De Brigard and Sarah Robins, according to the award announcement issued in August 2026. Administered by a philosophical society in conjunction with a professional philosophical association, the Dr. Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize for Philosophical Achievement and Contribution recognizes their work on “The Distinctiveness of Memory.” For you as a reader, the award highlights memory as more than a record of past events, inviting deeper questions about identity, imagination, evidence, and the nature of experience. Each recipient will receive a $25,000 honorarium.
Their work will receive further attention at a symposium during a Pacific Division meeting in Portland from March 24 to 27, 2027. That event will give you an opportunity to follow how De Brigard and Robins’ ideas connect debates in contemporary philosophy with questions about how people remember, reconstruct, and understand the past. Taken together, the prize and upcoming symposium underscore the continuing importance of memory to philosophical inquiry. They also offer a timely starting point for exploring the work of these two contemporary thinkers and the broader field of philosophy of mind.
