-
Hilary Putnam was born in Chicago, Illinois as an only child. He went on to attend the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Law School, and the University of California Los Angeles.
-
This was a key factor of functionalism, "a hugely influential idea for its adherents and detractors in cognitive science and philosophy of mind that defines a mental state (a thought, say, or a desire) by the role it plays in the complicated machine, or cognitive system, in which it exists" (Weber 2016). Putnam, Hilary (1960). Minds and Machines. In Sidney Hook (ed.), Dimensions of Minds. New York, USA: New York University Press. pp. 138-164. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG-LWOq6jvY
-
Ruth Hall was also a college professor and philosopher, and the couple goes on to have four children, and four grandchildren. They were married for a total of fifty-four years until his passing in 2016.
-
Putnam released an article in which he elaborates on the concept of "a planet alongside our own that was a facsimile in almost every way, including holding a replica of each person" (Weber 2016). This concept was called Twin Earth. Sources:
Putnam, Hilary. “The Meaning of ‘Meaning.’” The Meaning of "Meaning", University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1 Jan. 1975, https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/185225. -
Putnam rebelled against "metaphysical realism", promoting internal realism instead. He explains what makes internal realism different from metaphysical realism is elaborated in his book to come "Why There Isn't a Ready-Made World" (1983).
-
"What the metaphysical realist holds is that we can think and talk about things as they are, independently of our minds, and that we can do this by virtue of a 'correspondence' relation between the terms in our language and some sorts of mind-independent entities." https://youtu.be/CzNJ9HZ4Q3Q Putnam, Hilary. “Why There Isn’t a Ready-Made World.” Synthese, vol. 51, no. 2, Springer, 1982, pp. 141–67, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20115741.
-
Hilary Putnam passes at the age of 83 at his home in Arlington, Massachusetts. According to his family, his cause of death was metastasized mesothelioma. He was considered a "giant of modern philosophy" and "was known for the breadth of his thinking, the vividness of his provocative arguments, and his penchant for self-questioning and willingness to change his mind" (Weber 2016)
