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Hilary Putnam Introduction
Hilary Putnam was born 31 of July, 1926, He spent his childhood in France, before moving with his family to Philadelphia, where he studied at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating with a B. A. in mathematics and philosophy in 1946, he moved on to the University of California , where he completed a doctorate (1951) under the supervision of the German philosopher Hans Reichenbach, a major proponent of logical positivism. -
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'Machine Functionalism'
Functionalism was Putnam's most important contribution to the philosophy of mind. His version of the theory is known as 'Machine functionalism' because of the parallels it draws between mental states and the functional states of universal Turing machines (or computers). Putnam argued that mental states are the causes of our actions within the background of our beliefs and desires about the world; they are the functional states characterized by their casual relations with external stimuli... -
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Hilary Putnam's contribution in the philosophy of language
In the philosophy of language, Putnam set out to refute a grotesquely mistaken view of language, a mistake arising from a tendency to ignore the role of the natural and social environment. Putnam believed traditional theories of meaning are unsatisfactory because they are individualistic rather than social and they neglect the contribution of external reality to linguistic insignificance. -
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The 'No Miracle Argument'
Hilary Putnam's contribution in the philosophy of science was his dedication to scientific realism, the belief that theoretical claims of science are to be taken as describing reality; that science aims to produce true descriptions of things in the universe. This realist position is reinforced by his 'no miracle argument', which Putnam claims "realism is the only philosophy that does not make the success of science a miracle". -
Twin-Earth Thought Experiment
Putnam's best known contribution to the philosophy of mind and language consists in the so called Twin-Earth thought experiment ( known as 'The Meaning of Meaning' in 1975). It was a very influential idea which he used to defend the view that meaning, in some words, is not dependent on our mental state. Putnam notes in the experiment that it is crucial to this particular thought experiment that "water" is a "natural kind term"; water is the 'same kind of stuff' as typical examples of water. -
The 'Indispensability Argument'
Hilary Putnam has argued that the indispensability of mathematics to empirical science gives us good reason to believe in the existence of mathematical entities. Reference to (or qualification over) mathematical entities such as sets, numbers, functions and such is indispensable to our best scientific theories, and we ought to be committed to the existence of theses mathematical entities. To do otherwise is Putnam's description of "intellectual dishonesty". -
Hilary Putnam YouTube video