“Working with one author during my senior year allowed me to become familiar with his voice and thought,” Catherine Parker Sweatt ’12 says. “I enjoyed this kind of intimacy. I joked we were dating.”
Sweatt is referring to 16th century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne. A philosophy and French studies dual major, Sweatt wrote about ethics in Montaigne’s essaysfor her senior thesis. She was drawn to Montaigne’s philosophical style as well as his dialogue with Classical thought.
“The Essays do not present moral theory in a systemic way,” she says. “According to Montaigne, cultivating our practical judgment is the best method for doing what is right in a given situation, whereas, acting on the grounds of belief established by external sources often leads to error.”
Sweatt points out Montaigne is perhaps the best philosopher she could have chosen to study. “Montaigne’s Essays are about how to lead the good life,” she says. “He writes, ‘Nous sommes chacun plus riche que nous ne pensons: mais on nous dresse à l’emprunt et à la quête: on nous a dit a nous server plus à l’autrui que du notre.’ [We are all of us richer than we think we are; but we are taught to borrow and beg and are brought up to make use of more what is another’s than of our own.] Writing my thesis on Montaigne made this very real for me; Scripps College taught us not to borrow and beg. I feel prepared to go into the world confidently, courageously, and hopefully.”
For students interested in pursuing similar topics, Sweatt recommends looking into independent study and taking courses outside their majors. She draws on her interdisciplinary Scripps College education heavily in her thesis, connecting philosophy to religion, history, and current events. During her time at Scripps, Sweatt was also a Wilson intern at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery and served as a student representative on the Board of Trustees.
This fall, Sweatt will attend Cambridge University to pursue a Masters of Philosophy in European Literature and Culture. The year-long course of study is an excellent fit for her interest in both philosophy and literature: “The reading list could be entitled Core IV!”
Although Sweatt looks forward to reading works by other writers post-Scripps, she is glad she hasn’t yet tired of Montaigne. “Montaigne still tickles me. This bodes well for grad school.”