In memory of Miladin Životić, the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory at the University of Belgrade confers an award for critical engagement to leading theorists whose activity has produced significant resonances in social practice. Axel Honneth received the Award in a ceremony held in Kolarac Endowment on June 21st of 2019, where he gave a lecture “Democracy and the Division of Labor. A blind spot in political philosophy”.
On the proposal of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, in June 2024, Dr. Axel Honneth was awarded the honorary doctorate of the University of Belgrade – Doctor Honoris Causa. The traditional ceremony was held in the Solemn Hall of the Rectorate, as part of the international conference Change organized by the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory from June 12 to 15, 2024.
Axel Honneth is Jack C. Weinstein Professor of Humanities at the Department of Philosophy, Columbia University, and former Director of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt, the institutional locus of the Frankfurt School. Honneth is the key figure of the contemporary Frankfurt School critical theory, an interdisciplinary tradition that has evolved since the 1930-s and which investigates the causes behind the fact that true societal emancipation – the overcoming of all forms of social injustice and domination and the provision of basic resources for dignified life to all human beings, which the level of technological development today definitely allows for – has so far not been realized.
Mladen Životić Award is given to those remarkable individuals who always push the boundaries of thought while seeking change and progress, who are driven by the urgency of moment as well as desire to exceed those forces that would dissolve communities.
