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David Livingstone Smith, Ph.D., professor of philosophy and 2023-24 Ludcke Chair of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the 2023 Joseph B. Gittler Award from the American Philosophical Association for his book “Making Monsters: the Uncanny Power of Dehumanization.”

The is given annually for an outstanding scholarly contribution in the field of the philosophy of one or more of the social sciences. The prize was established in 2007 with funds donated by the estate of Joseph B. Gittler, a prominent American sociologist and philosopher, and carries a $4,000 honorarium.

"It is a tremendous honor to be awarded the Gittler prize for my work,” Smith remarked. “‘Making Monsters’ is my third book on the phenomenon of dehumanization. Like the others, it is a transdisciplinary text, drawing on resources from psychology, history, anthropology, and of course philosophy, as well as other disciplines.”

“Making Monsters” offers a poignant meditation on the philosophical and psychological roots of dehumanization. Turning to an abundance of historical examples, Smith explores the relationship between dehumanization and racism, the psychology of hierarchy, what it means to regard others as human beings, and why dehumanizing others transforms them into something so terrifying that they must be destroyed.

The award selection committee noted that Smith’s book “imaginatively connects the philosophy and psychology of dehumanization by way of providing urgently needed illumination of pressing and tragic social phenomena.”

In addition to “Making Monsters,” Smith has written or edited ten books, including “On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It” and the award-winning “Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave and Exterminate Others.”

Smith has been featured in prime-time television documentaries, is often interviewed and cited in the national and international media, and was a guest at the 2012 G20 economic summit. His expertise in philosophy addresses the inextricable links between racism, dehumanization, and brutality. Most recently, he was named a finalist for The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Nayef Al-Rodhan International Book Prize in Transdisciplinary Philosophy for “Making Monsters.”