Darwin Bye Fellow Dr Nicholas Humphrey has been announced as the winner of the Dennett Prize 2026, given for significant advances in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, evolutionary biology or artificial intelligence. Awarded by the International Center for Consciousness Studies, the prize is named in recognition of American philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett, who died in 2024, and with whom Dr Humphrey collaborated closely.
An Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the LSE, in addition to his role at Darwin, Dr Humphrey is a theoretical psychologist who studies the evolution of intelligence and consciousness. He demonstrated the existence of “blindsight” through his work with monkeys while still a doctoral student at Cambridge in the 1960s. He is known for his exploration of the social function of intellect and the evolutionary background of religion, art, healing, death-awareness and suicide, and has published 12 books.
Dr Humphrey was the unanimous choice of the Dennett Prize Committee, and becomes its second annual recipient. The prize of $10,000 and a replica of a sculpture by Daniel Dennett will be awarded later this year in Rome, where Dr Humphrey will give the Daniel Dennett Lecture.
