Seyla Benhabib

Seyla Benhabib
Born (1950-09-09) September 9, 1950
Istanbul, Turkey
Education
EducationYale University (PhD)
Brandeis University (BA)
ThesisNatural Right and Hegel: An Essay in Modern Political Theory (1977)
Doctoral advisorJohn Edwin Smith
Philosophical work
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolCritical theory, feminist philosophy
InstitutionsYale University
Main interestsPolitical theory (especially democratic politics and human migration), discourse ethics, identity
Notable ideasReconciliation of cosmopolitanism and pluralism
Websitecampuspress.yale.edu/seylabenhabib/

Seyla Benhabib (/ˈslə ˌbɛnhəˈbb/; born September 9, 1950) is a Turkish-born American philosopher. Benhabib is a senior research scholar and adjunct professor of law at Columbia Law School. She is also an affiliate faculty member in the Columbia University Department of Philosophy and a senior fellow at the Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought. She was a scholar in residence at the Law School from 2018 to 2019 and was also the James S. Carpentier Visiting professor of law in spring 2019. She was the Eugene Mayer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Yale University from 2001 to 2020. She was director of the program in Ethics, Politics, and Economics from 2002 to 2008. Benhabib is well known for her work in political philosophy, which draws on critical theory and feminist political theory. She has written extensively on the philosophers Hannah Arendt and Jürgen Habermas, as well as on the topic of human migration. She is the author of numerous books, and has received several prestigious awards and lectureships in recognition of her work.