Judith Jarvis Thomson

Judith Jarvis Thomson
Name	Judith Jarvis Thomson
Caption	Thomson in 2000
Birth date	4 October 1929
Birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
Death date	20 November 2020
Death place	Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Education	Barnard College (BA), University of Cambridge (PhD)
Spouse	James Thomson
School tradition	Analytic philosophy
Institutions	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Main interests	Ethics, Metaphysics
Notable ideas	Violinist thought experiment, trolley problem formulation, rights-based defense of abortion
Awards	American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1990), American Philosophical Association Presidential Address (1992-1993)

Judith Jarvis Thomson was an influential American moral philosopher renowned for her pioneering work in normative ethics and applied philosophy. A longtime professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she made seminal contributions through powerful thought experiments that reshaped debates on abortion, self-defense, and the doctrine of double effect. Her rigorous analytic style and defense of a rights-based approach to morality established her as a leading figure in 20th-century analytic philosophy.

Biography

Born in New York City, she earned her undergraduate degree from Barnard College before completing her doctorate at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of John Wisdom. She began her teaching career at Boston University before joining the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964, where she remained for her entire career, influencing generations of philosophers. She was married to philosopher James Thomson and was a central figure in the vibrant philosophical community of Cambridge, Massachusetts, engaging with colleagues like Robert Nozick and Hilary Putnam.

Philosophical work

Thomson's philosophical oeuvre is characterized by a commitment to clarity and a focus on the structure of moral rights and obligations. Her work often engaged with and critiqued deontological and consequentialist theories, particularly those of Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill. She made significant contributions to metaphysics, including analyses of action theory and the nature of causation, but her most enduring impact lies in her innovative approach to normative ethics. Her method frequently involved constructing vivid, hypothetical scenarios to test the limits and implications of moral principles.

A Defense of Abortion

Her 1971 paper "A Defense of Abortion," published in the journal Philosophy & Public Affairs, is one of the most widely reprinted and debated essays in modern moral philosophy. In it, she famously employed the "Violinist" thought experiment, asking readers to imagine waking up surgically connected to a famous unconscious violinist to save his life. She argued that even if a fetus is granted the status of a person, a pregnant woman's right to bodily autonomy may permit abortion, analogizing it to disconnecting from the violinist. This argument shifted the debate from the personhood of the fetus to the scope of maternal rights and the limits of Good Samaritan obligations.

Other notable thought experiments

Beyond the violinist, Thomson developed and analyzed several other famous ethical puzzles. She provided a seminal analysis of the trolley problem, contrasting a bystander's options to divert a runaway trolley and exploring the moral distinction between killing and letting die. In her work on self-defense, she examined scenarios involving innocent aggressors and innocent threats. Another notable experiment involved "Henry Fonda's cool hand," used to critique utilitarianism by illustrating that rights can trump aggregate welfare, even in minor cases.

Awards and honors

Thomson was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1990. She served as President of the American Philosophical Association's Eastern Division from 1992 to 1993, delivering a widely discussed presidential address. Her work earned her honorary degrees from several institutions, including Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 2012, she was awarded the Quinn Prize by the American Philosophical Association for lifetime service to the profession.

Selected bibliography

* The Realm of Rights (1990) – A major systematic work on the nature and foundations of rights. * Goodness and Advice (2001) – Based on her University Center for Human Values lectures at Princeton University. * Normativity (2008) – Explores the nature of normative thought and judgment. * How It Is: The State of the Universe (2019) – A metaphysical inquiry into the nature of the world. * Numerous influential papers in journals such as The Journal of Philosophy, Philosophical Review, and Ethics.

Category:American philosophers Category:20th-century philosophers Category:Moral philosophers