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Birth
Hilary Whitehall Putnam was worn in Chicago, IL. -
Education
Obtained Ph.D. from UCLA -
Professorship
Putnam taught at Northwestern University from 1951-1952. -
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Professional Achievement
During his lifetime, Hilary Putnam served in a number of distinguished roles, including but not limited to:
• President of Philosophy of Science Association
• President of the Association for Symbolic Logic
• Fellow at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Fellow at the American Philosophical Society
• Corresponding Fellow of the British and the French Academie des Sciences Politiques et Morales -
Professorship
Taught at Princeton University from 1953-1961, and was tenured in Mathematics and Philosophy in 1960. -
Professorship
Tenured at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1961-1965. -
Professorship
Became faculty at Harvard University. -
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Publications
Hilary Putnam put forth many ideas and contributed to the theories of the mind, meaning, truth, facts, and reality. Throughout his lifetime he published a great many works contributing to the philosophy of mind, language, science, and mathematics; epistemology; realism; functionalism; multiple realizability; and transnationalism. Some of his major works are provided below:
(Entries provided separately due to limited space) -
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Professional Achievement
Served as the President of the American Philosophical Association (Eastern Division) from 1976-1977. -
Views on the Philosophy of Science - Interview
In 1977, Hilary Putnam provided an excellent interview on his views regarding aspects of the philosophy of science. Links to two recorded parts of the interview have been provided below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG3sfrK5B4E (Part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAP4E3EpedE (Part 2) -
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Professional Recognition
Served as President of the Philosophy of Science Association from 1977-1978. A position Thomas Khun would later also hold. -
Professional Recognition
Putnam received the Prometheus Award from the American Philosophers Association as recognition of his lifetime contribution to the furtherance of philosophy and science. -
Professional Recognition
Hilary Putnam was awarded the Rolf Schock prize in 2011 for "his contribution to the understanding of semantics for theoretical and 'natural kind' terms, and of the implications of this semantics for philosophy, theory of knowledge, philosophy of science and metaphysics." https://kva.screen9.tv/media/O4VOLXemmDwDmnVLo4wnPA/ -
Professional Recognition
Putnam received the Nicholas Rescher Prize for Systematic Philosophy. -
Death
Hilary Putnam died in Arlington, MA, at age 89.
