Spotlight | Philosophy 

Judith Thomson receives Quinn Prize for lifetime contributions to philosophy

MIT Philosophy Professor Emerita Judith Jarvis Thomson has been awarded the 2012 Quinn Prize from the American Philosophical Association (APA) in recognition of her lifetime contributions to philosophy and philosophers.
 



   

     Judith Jarvis Thomson 
     MIT Professor of Philosophy Emerita
 
     Full Story + Photographs



An internationally renowned philosopher, Thomson is best known for her thought experiments, including the famous "trolley problem," which present simple scenarios that illuminate serious moral and ethical questions.

“Judy is a powerful intellectual force in the profession....ready and able to address topics across a very full range of subfields, from metaphysics to ethics, publishing first-rate work wherever she turns her attention,” said Professor Sally Haslanger, a fellow MIT philosopher.
  











"She has had an enormous influence on fellow faculty and on generations of graduate students who now populate the philosophy departments of the English-speaking world." 

— Richard Holton, Head, MIT Philosophy