Dr. Paul Farmer Was Surprised To Get A Million Dollar 'Philosophy' Prize

When Dr. Paul Farmer learned that he would receive a million-dollar award for his work, he was a bit ... baffled. He is a Harvard Medical School professor, medical anthropologist and co-founder of Partners In Health, an organization whose mission is to bring modern medical care to those in need around the world. But the words "medicine" or "health" do not appear in the award, announced Dec. 16. It is the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture. "I was a little shocked to get a prize with the word 'philosophy,'" he says.

And yet it's apt, says Nicholas Berggruen, real estate investor and founder of the private equity firm Berggruen Holdings. He founded the Berggruen Institute that awarded the prize to Farmer. "We have a simple idea. It is to reward somebody who is developing new thinking to help society evolve," he says.

Farmer, 61, who is the author of the new book Fevers, Feuds, And Diamonds: Ebola And The Ravages Of History, spoke with NPR from his home in Miami, Florida, about his philosophy and his life's work.