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Born
Hilary Putnam is an American philosopher born in Illinois. He is most famous for his contributions to the philosophy of the mind. He also made contributions in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics and the philosophy of logic. Putnam become a professor of philosophy at Harvard. -
Education
Obtained his Ph.D at ULCA -
The Meaning of 'Meaning'
In this book Putnam discusses his concept of semantic externalism. This concept of his says that meaning is not purely a mental entity but is anchored in external reality. In this writing is Putnam's famous thought-experiment, where he said to imagine a duplicate Earth. On the duplicate the water that the inhabitants drink is not H2O but XYZ. There is an identical inhabitant on Earth and duplicate Earth, but when the one speaks of water it is not the same water the other inhabitant drinks. -
Philosophy and Our Mental Life
One of the many books Putnam wrote is Philosophy of Our Mental Life. It discusses philosophy of mind, which Putnam's contributions to are what he is well known for. Putnam created the functionalism; he defines mental states in terms of functional roles. Putnam believed in characterizing the mind by its functions not what it is made of. -
Reason, Truth and History
Putnam discusses in this book the persistent problems in the nature of truth, knowledge and rationality. Internal Realism is a chapter within this book. Internal realism Putnam said involves a commitment to the idea that truth is epistemically constrained to conceptual relativism. -
Why There Isn’t a Ready-Made World
Putnam distinguishes between realism and metaphysical realism. He states metaphysical realism is blind to the autonomy and complexity of human language. -
Retired from Teaching
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Death
After retiring Putnam still taught and wrote but he also spent his years tending to his garden with his wife. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLrVxNlUxBo
This video is of Putnam speaking about his works life and his opinions. He shares why he became interested in philosophy and speaks on who inspired him.
