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Hilary Putnam's Birth
Philosopher Hilary Whitehall Putnam is born in Chicago, IL
Link: https://youtu.be/KE8NL9G_Fq8
“Hilary Putnam | American Philosopher.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Hilary-Putnam. -
Education
He studies mathematics and philosophy at the university of Pennsylvania and completes graduate school in philosophy at Harvard and UCLA, obtains PH.D in 1951. “Hilary Putnam | American Philosopher.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Hilary-Putnam. -
Contribution
Putnam contributes to the Meaning and method with a paper concentrated on the philosophy of linguistics, coins what is known is “sematic externalisms”. Which tests meanings not as pure mental images but as being grounded in external reality. Serves as a support of “realism”. “Hilary Putnam | American Philosopher.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Hilary-Putnam. -
Relativist argument 1
Language is learned from theories ground in different paradigms can refer to two same entities. Connection is made by causal chains of prior uses of the term and social norms such as pointing and hand gestures, rather than by definitions, descriptions, and mental images. This lays a claim that rebukes the argument of incommensurability. “Hilary Putnam | American Philosopher.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Hilary-Putnam. -
Relativist argument 2
Different person can associate a word with identical images and beliefs, or even the same definition, and can still diverge in the same meaning, the first spoke it. In the “twin Earth” experiment “Water on twin earth function’s the same on real earth as in we all drink it, but it’s in the ocean. But Twin Earth’s water is different chemically. This is what he called the external reality. “Hilary Putnam | American Philosopher.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Hilary-Putnam. -
Putnam’s unifying theme
Putnam’s philosophy is his defense of realism. In 1976, he proposed that “metaphysical realism” should be replaced by “internal realism”. He was pursuing what he deemed to be the correct view he was taking. The word for water is argued by Putnam, refers to the stuff “out there” in the external world that person, saying “water”, and might point out to identify certain liquids as water.
“Hilary Putnam | American Philosopher.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Hilary-Putnam. -
Final years and retirement
Served until his retirement is the Cogan University Professor Emeritus at Harvard. “Hilary Putnam | American Philosopher.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Hilary-Putnam. -
Death
Died age 89, enshrined in Arlington, MA
Awards:
Rolf Schock Prize in logic and philosophy (2011)
Nicholas Rescher Prize for systematic philosophy (2015) “Hilary Putnam | American Philosopher.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Hilary-Putnam.
