Sergio Tenenbaum, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto Mississauga, has been elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), widely considered to be the highest academic honour in Canada. The RSC recognizes leading scholars and researchers from the arts, humanities, and sciences for their career-long achievements.
Tenenbaum was nominated by the RSC for his influential work on the philosophy of intentional action, practical reasoning, and Kantian ethics. He is the author of two books, Appearances of the Good (CUP, 2007) and Rational Powers in Action: Instrumental Rationality and Extended Agency (OUP, 2020), as well as two edited volumes and dozens of journal articles. Across this body of work, Tenenbaum has established himself a world-leading expert in the philosophy of action and practical reason.
RSC’s citation refers to his work in this way: “Tenenbaum has rehabilitated the historically influential thesis that all action aims at the good and he has articulated a novel framework for understanding the rationality of temporally extended action. Tenenbaum also powerfully defends the Kantian idea that immorality is a form of irrationality in action.”
Despite his considerable accomplishments, Tenenbaum greeted the news of his nomination with humility, and some disbelief. “I feel so flattered; there is this movie I love (‘Footnote’) in which a prize commission tells the wrong person that he was the recipient of its prestigious prize, and they have to decide whether they will correct this mistake. I feel something like that might be happening to me here.”
Says Martin Pickavé, chair of the Department of Philosophy, “We are very happy that Sergio’s sustained contributions to ethics and the philosophy of action have been recognized with the election to the Royal Society of Canada. He is one of the leading philosophers working in Canada today.”
The RSC, founded in 1882, includes among its members highly influential figures such as the novelist Margaret Atwood, the broadcaster and geneticist David Suzuki, and the pioneering neuroscientist Brenda Milner. The class of 2026 will include 159 new members and fellows, 17 of which are from U of T. They will be officially inducted on November 13, 2026, at a ceremony in Ottawa.
Candidates for membership are nominated by current members of the RSC and supported by colleagues and peers in their field. Tenenbaum expressed gratitude for this support. “I am very much honoured by this recognition of my work, and especially moved by the effort of all my colleagues in the department and the larger profession who supported my nomination.”
Born in Brazil, Tenenbaum studied as an undergraduate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and then as a PhD student at University of Pittsburgh. He joined the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto in 2000. He has held visiting appointments at major universities across the world: Oxford, Australian National University, Universite de Paris 1 (Pantheon-Sorbonne), and the Institute of Advanced study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.