The DFG said the following regarding its decision to include Vetter among the prizewinners: “Philosophy has always been concerned with the idea of possibility. A plurality of possible worlds is the domineering model in contemporary analytical philosophy. Barbara Vetter has conducted a fundamental critical review of this model and has developed an alternative concept, the concept of potentiality, in which possibilities are seen as the driving force and capacity of the present-day world. Her paper was praised in expert circles, among other things for its technical virtuosity, and has had considerable impact on current debate. Vetter is now working on further developing this approach in epistemological terms as well as in terms of action theory: how does capability differ from other possibilities, such as predisposition? How do cognitive and practical abilities relate to one another? How can we find out about our own abilities? Her hypothesis is that knowledge of one’s own abilities and options for action forms the foundation of an acting individual’s knowledge of their possibilities. With her work, Vetter contributes to making Germany an internationally interesting place for contemporary analytical metaphysics, epistemology and action theory.”

President of Freie Universität Berlin, Professor Günter M. Ziegler, congratulated Vetter on this accomplishment: “This is an outstanding award for an outstanding scholar. It is a great day for Professor Vetter and Freie Universität Berlin as a whole. Her being honored with the most important research prize in Germany is a clear sign of just how excellent humanities research is at Freie Universität Berlin.”

Professor Georg Bertram, vice president of Freie Universität Berlin with responsibilities for appointments and appointment strategy and professor of philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin, added: “I am delighted for Professor Vetter. This well-deserved prize is another feather in her cap alongside the many accolades she has received for her work in analytical metaphysics throughout the years. The Institute of Philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin considers itself very lucky to have Barbara Vetter among its ranks.”

About Barbara Vetter

Barbara Vetter was appointed professor of theoretical philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin in 2017. She works in the field of analytical philosophy, with a focus on metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of language. The concepts of ability and possibility, which she investigates in relation to human capabilities, skills, and talents as well as in terms of modal logic (the logic of necessity and possibility), are central to her research. She establishes relationships between these areas and the history of philosophy, especially the Aristotelian tradition, which she systematically links to the latest findings not only in philosophy, but also in linguistics and cognitive science.

Vetter completed her studies in philosophy at the University of Oxford with a thesis on abstract objects in 2006, where she also earned a doctorate in 2010 with a dissertation titled “Potentiality and Possibility.” She was an assistant professor at University of Duisburg-Essen before being appointed junior professor of theoretical philosophy at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin from 2010 to 2016. Following her professorship at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, she moved to Freie Universität Berlin in 2017, where she became deputy head and later head of the Institute of Philosophy.

She is vice president of the German Society for Analytic Philosophy (GAP) and co-director of the Center for Advanced Studies in the Humanities “Human Abilities,” which has explored questions relating to human abilities and their metaphysical and epistemological meaning since 2020. She has participated in many externally funded projects, including the DFG research project “Capacities and the Good” in collaboration with Erasmus Mayr. She received the Wolfgang Stegmüller Prize from the German Society for Analytic Philosophy in 2015 for her scholarly achievements. The author of numerous essays, she published the monograph Potentiality: From Dispositions to Modalities with Oxford University Press in 2015, in which she expands upon her conception of modality that is oriented toward abilities. Professor Vetter is also dedicated to supporting scholars from non-academic backgrounds in the field of philosophy.

Recipients of the Leibniz Prize at Freie Universität Berlin

Several researchers at Freie Universität Berlin have been awarded the Leibniz Prize over the years, among them professor of Romance languages and literatures Anita Traninger (2023), Arabic Studies scholar Beatrice Gründler (2017), theater scholar Gabriele Brandstetter (2004), and mathematician and climate researcher Rupert Klein (2003). Neuroscientist Volker Haucke also received the prize last year. He is director of the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) in Berlin and professor of molecular pharmacology at Freie Universität Berlin. President of Freie Universität Berlin and mathematician Günter M. Ziegler also won the Leibniz Prize in 2001.