The left-right-distinction is one of the most elementary distinctions of orientation. It entered philosophy in the 1780s through works of Moses Mendelssohn and Immanuel Kant; a few years later, it also appeared in politics during the French Revolution. Since then, the distinction between political left and right has shaped ideological landscapes worldwide. Initially, those seated to the left of the French National Assembly advocated for popular sovereignty, equality, and radical change, while those to the right defended monarchy and traditional hierarchies. Over time, this geographical distinction evolved to signify broader ideological divisions—between progressivism and conservatism, collectivism and individualism, revolution and order. Thinkers from Edmund Burke to Karl Marx, and later from Hannah Arendt to Jacques Rancière, have debated the nature, limits, and transformations of this distinction. Yet, as contemporary political realities shift, the relevance of this binary framework is increasingly contested, with globalization, digitalization, and cultural realignments blurring traditional ideological boundaries.

In our third philosophical prize competition, the Foundation for Philosophical Orientation therefore asks: Is the left-right distinction still useful for political orientation? Is it still politically meaningful after historical transformations such as industrialization, neoliberalism, and the rise of digital technologies? How do different cultural, regional, and historical contexts shape its applicability? How do alternative frameworks – such as authoritarian vs. libertarian, globalist vs. localist, nationalist vs. cosmopolitan, capitalist vs. socialist – blur, intersect, or transcend the traditional political orientation of left and right?

In this prize competition, we expect new contributions (i.e., not yet published in any form) from
insightful points of view and with compelling philosophical perspectives. It is not about making
political statements. We recommend that authors send approx. 20–30 pages of thorough and
comprehensive philosophical research that clearly shows connections to the concepts of the
philosophy of orientation, as developed in Werner Stegmaier’s What is Orientation? A Philosophical Investigation. Critical approaches are welcome, too.

The best contributions will be invited to a virtual debate with our board and advisory council in
order to determine the winners, and the most outstanding essays will be offered publication. 

The Foundation for Philosophical Orientation provides the following prize awards:

1st prize award: $10,000

2nd prize award: $7,500

3rd prize award: $5,000

Special student award: $2,500 (if no student is among the top 3).

Please submit your contributions by January 31, 2026 (midnight, US Central Time) to
prize@hfpo.com

Important Information / FAQs:

Essays must be written by a human; submitters of AI-generated entries will be disqualified from this and future FPO competitions.

– Are there any eligibility restrictions with regard to nationality, student status, affiliation? No, there are no eligibility restrictions.

– Is there a preferred citation or formatting style? No.

For more information or questions, please contact: reinhard.mueller@hfpo.com

About Past Prize Competitions

“How to Orient Oneself in Times of Multiple Crises?”

Several serious crises have now come upon the world: the looming climate catastrophe, which may result in worldwide famines and mass-migrations; the Coronavirus pandemic, which has paralyzed large parts of the global economy; the energy crisis, which may increasingly lead to social unrest and political upheaval; rising inflation around the world and the threat to the international financial system; and on top of all this, a new war in the middle of Europe, which could develop into a nuclear world war. All these crises, to name only the most spectacular, are closely intertwined in their origins and consequences. They create an orientation situation of hitherto hardly known complexity, and there seems to be no one who could sufficiently survey it, let alone give hints about how to master it, not even the responsible governments. We are witnessing a global disorientation in extreme danger and under the highest pressure to act.

The Foundation called on philosophers to explore what means and ways of our orientation can help in such a situation of multiple crises. Disorientation could make the hardships even more difficult. What in fact are ‘crises’ – who perceives them when, under which conditions, and in which contexts? How do people proceed in crises, what can be observed? What could they do? Is the philosophical concept of orientation useful when dealing of multiple crises? Are our human orientation abilities themselves altogether at stake? Or are there historical examples from which we can learn? What footholds does one follow in such situations? How can one attain an overview? What uncertainties must one reckon with?

The debate with the five finalists was held on October 12, 2024, during the meeting for our fifth anniversary.

Prize recipients:

• 1st prize: Yuri Di Liberto (Italy)
• 2nd prize: Dirk Stemper (Germany)
• 3rd prize: Nataliia Reva (Ukraine)

“How Does the Digitization of Our World Change Our Orientation?”

Through this inaugural competition, launched on the day of our foundation’s inauguration, October 25, 2019, we invited reflections on how digital transformation reshapes the conditions and strategies of orientation. The current digital transformation increasingly affects all dimensions of our orientation, most noticeably in how we communicate, process and store information, work and move in our everyday life, but also with regard to big data, universal surveillance, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things – to just mention a few main keywords. However, it is unclear how this change currently impacts our life and what the long-term consequences will be. As such, through our prize competition, we want to make a contribution to addressing this transformation and provide some initial footholds.

Prize recipients:

• 1st prize: “Orientation to Profiles: Identity in a Digitized World” by Hans-Georg Moeller and Paul J. D’Ambrosio
• 2nd prize: “Meet the Moment: An Inventory of Experience in the Digital Era and the Call for Orientation Virtues” by Samantha Sprole
• 3rd prize: “The Digital Transformation of Human Orientation: An Inquiry into the Dawn of a New Era” by Christoph Durt

Special Student awards: split between Abigail Bergeron’s “The Question Concerning Digital Technologies” and Paul Stephan’s “How Could and Should Digitization Change Our Orientation? On the Use and Abuse of Digitization from a Utopian Perspective.”

You can read these award-winning essays in the book published by Orientations Press in 2023:
Reinhard G. Mueller and Werner Stegmaier (eds.), How Does the Digitization of Our World Change Our Orientation? Available on our Publications page.