Posted November 6, 2015
Philosophy: asking life’s toughest questions
Meet Temple Philosophy Chair Miriam Solomon
Video Production:
Gina Benigno
Like most other people, Miriam Solomon starting asking big questions when she was a girl. Is there life after death? What’s the nature of the soul? Decades later, she’s still asking vexing, urgent questions—and encouraging Temple students to do the same—as chair of the Philosophy Department in Temple College of Liberal Arts.
“That’s the great thing about philosophy. You can ask any question,” says Solomon, the subject of the latest video profile in our series focusing on Temple faculty scholars and researchers. “Once you enter a philosophy classroom, you are not told, ‘This is the assumption in the field, and you need to work with it.’ Philosophy is very freeing.”
An expert in the philosophy of science, the philosophy of medicine, epistemology and biomedical ethics, Solomon—who also serves on the Ethics Committee at Temple University Hospital—just published Making Medical Knowledge (Oxford University Press), a new book that sheds light on medical controversies, exploring issues ranging from how doctors advise patients on end-of-life issues to the ways that scientific discoveries are transmitted to clinical practice. To learn more about Solomon’s book, read her Q&A at the College of Liberal Arts’ new website.