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Hilary Putnam was born
In 1926 on July 31, Hilary Putnam was born in Chicago, Illinois. Putnam was known as an American philosopher who made tremendous efforts in adding knowledge to various subjects, such as metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, and epistemology. https://philosophy.fas.harvard.edu/people/hilary-putnam https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hilary-Putnam Hickey, Lance P. Hilary Putnam. Continuum, 2009. -
Hilary Putnam's Education
Hilary Putnam graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and then went on to UCLA where he recieved his Ph.D. in 1951. He first taught at Northwestern University in Illinois (1951-19-52). Putnam then went on to Princeton University (1953-1961). During his time at Princeton, he was part of both the Department of Philosophy and the Department of Mathematics until 1960. After Princeton, he went to the Masschutes Institute of Technology (1961-1965). Putnam went on to teach at Harvard in 1965. -
Internal Realism
Hilary Putnam originally believed in "metaphysical realism". Metaphysical realism is the idea that subjects that make up the world exist individually of our thoughts and what is thought of them. However, later on in Putnam's life, he changed his focus to "internal realism". Internal realism is the idea or theory of one who accepts and adopts the beliefs of science and realism. ‘‘Metaphysics Without Ethics is Blind’’: The Legacy
of Hilary Putnam
Massimo Dell’Utri1 -
An interview of Hilary Putnam
Hilary Putnam talks about equivalent descriptions. Putnam says that we as humans have different views on the world and things that make up this world because of our experiences and observations. He says that partially, the world is made up of science and the other is made up in which the way we see things individually. The example he gives is an electron. You can see it two ways: as half of a wave or half of a particle, either way, is correct.
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The Fact-Value Dichotomy
Hilary Putnam believed in scientific realism. He believed that science was a reality that scientists aimed to prove. His idea is this, what we know about the world around us, can change. He compares different paradigms to support this idea. In conclusion, Putnam believed that science could not be reliant on objective facts only. He brought up the fact-value discussion, hence, facts and values are recognizably different. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLJfEVu3kbY -
The Death of Hilary Putnam
Hilary Putnam passed away in 2016. He resided in Arlinton, Massachusetts at the time. -