Judith Jarvis Thomson

Judith Jarvis Thomson
Judith Jarvis Thomson
	Judith Jarvis Thomson in 2005
Born	Judith Jarvis; October 4, 1929; New York City, U.S.
Died	November 20, 2020 (aged 91); Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater	Barnard College (BA); Cambridge University (BA, MA); Columbia University (PhD)
Spouse	James Thomson (m. 1962; div. 1980)
Era	Contemporary philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Analytic philosophy
Doctoral students	Kathrin Koslicki
Notable ideas	The trolley problem, ethics concerning abortion

Judith Jarvis Thomson (October 4, 1929 – November 20, 2020) was an American philosopher who studied and worked on ethics and metaphysics. Her work ranges across a variety of fields, but she is most known for her work regarding the thought experiment titled the trolley problem and her writings on abortion. She is credited with naming, developing, and initiating the extensive literature on the trolley problem first posed by Philippa Foot which has found a wide range use since.^[1] Thomson also published a paper titled "A Defense of Abortion", which makes the argument that the procedure is morally permissible even if it is assumed that a fetus is a person with a right to life.

^ Edmonds, Dave (2013). Would You Kill the Fat Man? The Trolley Problem and What Your Answer Tells Us about Right and Wrong. Princeton University Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780691154022. "Philippa Foot set Trolleyology going, but it was Judith Jarvis Thomson, a philosopher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who delivered its most high-voltage jolt. Struck by Foot's thought experiment she responded with not one but two influential articles on what she labeled The Trolley Problem."

[1] Edmonds, Dave (2013). Would You Kill the Fat Man? The Trolley Problem and What Your Answer Tells Us about Right and Wrong. Princeton University Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780691154022. "Philippa Foot set Trolleyology going, but it was Judith Jarvis Thomson, a philosopher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who delivered its most high-voltage jolt. Struck by Foot's thought experiment she responded with not one but two influential articles on what she labeled The Trolley Problem."

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Judith Jarvis Thomson
Judith Jarvis Thomson in 2005
Born	Judith Jarvis (1929-10-04)October 4, 1929 New York City, U.S.
Died	November 20, 2020(2020-11-20) (aged 91) Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater	Barnard College (BA) Cambridge University (BA, MA) Columbia University (PhD)
Spouse	James Thomson (m. 1962; div. 1980)

Era	Contemporary philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Analytic philosophy
Doctoral students	Kathrin Koslicki
Notable ideas	The trolley problem, ethics concerning abortion