Christoph Möllers receives Tractatus-Preis 2021
News07.09.2021
© SUHRKAMP VERLAG
The Tractatus-Preis 2021 has been awarded to the German legal philosopher, Christoph Möllers, by the jury, comprising of Barbara Bleisch, Michael Krüger and Thomas Vašek, for his book Degrees of Freedom. On Liberal Elements in the Political Field. Endowed with 25,000 euros, the award is considered one of the most prestigious in its field in the German-speaking world. The award ceremony will take place on Friday September 24, 2021, in Lech, Vorarlberg.
The jury states that: »In his book Degrees of Freedom, Christoph Möllers [...] has successfully sought to examine in a contemporary context the liberal ideas on the free order of society that have been circulating since the 18th century. In 349 short mini-essays linked by references, Möllers puts forth a mosaic-like image of freedom that could not be clearer whilst simultaneously being more dazzling in its complexity. Free of dogma, full of cleverness and wit, elegantly written and yet without a know-it-all attitude, he has succeeded in creating a virtual oracle that everyone should read: the dogmatists and know-it-alls as well as those who have decided that they no longer want to understand the world in which we live.«
The Philosophicum Lech adds: »As one of the most renowned representatives of German jurisprudence, Christoph Möllers, in his latest book, addresses the question of how to counter the threat to liberal democracy that can be observed everywhere and, instead of superficial answers, offers captivatingly sharp analyses and an expansive, firm basis for continuing to think about the liberal project. Degrees of Freedom was nominated for the Deutscher Sachbuchpreis 2021 and the Leipzig Book Fair Prize 2021 and is recommended especially, but not only, to those interested in politics as an informative read on one of the most pressing issues of our time. The book has been met with a great response far beyond specialist circles, and individual aspects of Möller's remarks have even been the subject of controversial debate. What remains undisputed, however, is that Degrees of Freedom can be characterized by intellectual acuity, its structure is exceptional in a refreshing way, and it is a highly valuable, inspiring contribution to contemporary political debates. It thus meets the three primary criteria for the award of the Tractatus: the relevance of the subject, the successful articulacy of composition, and the originality of the thought process.«
Christoph Möllers was born in 1969 and studied law, philosophy, and comparative literature in Tübingen, Munich, Madrid, and Chicago. He has taught constitutional law and legal philosophy at the Humboldt University of Berlin since 2009, as a visiting scholar in Budapest, London, Paris, and Princeton, among other places, and has been a Permanent Fellow at the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study since 2012. His interests include political philosophy and social norms theory. Regarding his legal practice, he has worked as a part-time judge at the OVG Berlin-Brandenburg and as a legal representative of the Bundestag, Bundesrat, and Federal Government before the Federal Constitutional Court. For his research, he was awarded the Leibniz Prize by the German Research Foundation in 2016 and the Schader Prize in 2019.
Since 2009, the Philosophicum Lech Association has honoured outstanding publications in the field of philosophical and cultural essay writing with the Tractatus-Preis. The award was established at the suggestion of writer Michael Köhlmeier in order to give greater recognition to remarkable contributions to the increasingly important field of intellectual debate and positioning.
The jury states that: »In his book Degrees of Freedom, Christoph Möllers [...] has successfully sought to examine in a contemporary context the liberal ideas on the free order of society that have been circulating since the 18th century. In 349 short mini-essays linked by references, Möllers puts forth a mosaic-like image of freedom that could not be clearer whilst simultaneously being more dazzling in its complexity. Free of dogma, full of cleverness and wit, elegantly written and yet without a know-it-all attitude, he has succeeded in creating a virtual oracle that everyone should read: the dogmatists and know-it-alls as well as those who have decided that they no longer want to understand the world in which we live.«
The Philosophicum Lech adds: »As one of the most renowned representatives of German jurisprudence, Christoph Möllers, in his latest book, addresses the question of how to counter the threat to liberal democracy that can be observed everywhere and, instead of superficial answers, offers captivatingly sharp analyses and an expansive, firm basis for continuing to think about the liberal project. Degrees of Freedom was nominated for the Deutscher Sachbuchpreis 2021 and the Leipzig Book Fair Prize 2021 and is recommended especially, but not only, to those interested in politics as an informative read on one of the most pressing issues of our time. The book has been met with a great response far beyond specialist circles, and individual aspects of Möller's remarks have even been the subject of controversial debate. What remains undisputed, however, is that Degrees of Freedom can be characterized by intellectual acuity, its structure is exceptional in a refreshing way, and it is a highly valuable, inspiring contribution to contemporary political debates. It thus meets the three primary criteria for the award of the Tractatus: the relevance of the subject, the successful articulacy of composition, and the originality of the thought process.«
Christoph Möllers was born in 1969 and studied law, philosophy, and comparative literature in Tübingen, Munich, Madrid, and Chicago. He has taught constitutional law and legal philosophy at the Humboldt University of Berlin since 2009, as a visiting scholar in Budapest, London, Paris, and Princeton, among other places, and has been a Permanent Fellow at the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study since 2012. His interests include political philosophy and social norms theory. Regarding his legal practice, he has worked as a part-time judge at the OVG Berlin-Brandenburg and as a legal representative of the Bundestag, Bundesrat, and Federal Government before the Federal Constitutional Court. For his research, he was awarded the Leibniz Prize by the German Research Foundation in 2016 and the Schader Prize in 2019.
Since 2009, the Philosophicum Lech Association has honoured outstanding publications in the field of philosophical and cultural essay writing with the Tractatus-Preis. The award was established at the suggestion of writer Michael Köhlmeier in order to give greater recognition to remarkable contributions to the increasingly important field of intellectual debate and positioning.