“The annual Berggruen Prize Essay Competition seeks to stimulate new thinking and innovative concepts while embracing cross-cultural perspectives across fields, disciplines, and geographies. By posing fundamental philosophical questions of significance for both contemporary life and for the future, the competition will serve as a complement to the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture, which recognizes major lifetime achievements in advancing ideas that have shaped the world. … We are inviting essays that follow in the tradition of renowned thinkers such as Rousseau, Michel de Montaigne, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Submissions should present novel ideas and be clearly argued in compelling ways for intellectually serious readers.” The theme for 2025 is Consciousness. “The nature of consciousness has enthralled philosophers for millennia. More recently, modern scientific approaches that seek to illuminate physical aspects of consciousness engender as many questions as they do answers. We seek original essays that offer fresh perspectives on these fundamental questions.” They have detailed guidelines. Please note, “each language category (Chinese and English) will have a prize of $50,000 USD. If there is more than one winner in any given year, the amount will be distributed evenly among the winners.” Please read their terms carefully.
Value: $50,000 each for Chinese and English (see guidelines)
Deadline: 31 July 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here.

Deadline: July 31st, 2025