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Hilary Putnam
Putman was born on July 31, 1926, in Chicago, Illinois. He was an only child, and his father was a writer and translator for the Daily Worker. He began his studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Then graduate school at Harvard University and the University of California, Los Angles. While at UCLA, under the supervision of Hans Reichenbach, he wrote a dissertation and, with it, received his Ph.d. -
The Start
Putman earned his degree in 1951 at UCLA. He then went on to teach philosophy at UCLA and Princeton until 1976. While at Princeton, he met Rudolf Carnap - A logical positivist. Which is the view that science is the only factual knowledge. This set the foundation for his future work. -
The Impact
The primary keynote of Putnam's philosophy is his view on realism. He was a significant realist and continuously updated his thoughts on the matter. It wasn't until 1976 that he coined the term "Internal Realism." That was different from the current term "Metaphysical Realism." He believed that the outdated version excluded the variety of human languages. -
The Impact
Putnam continued to be an active philosopher. Putnam's later work explored ethical issues and political philosophy, addressing questions related to the nature of values, morality, and societal structure. He published a book named "Realism with a Human Face" in 1990. He continued to publish books and ended up publishing five in total. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwtDXUrUYgg