Hilary Putnam

By mamoore219

  • Hilary Putnam: Birth

    Born in Chicago, Illinois. His father was a writer and translator, an active communist, and a columnist for the Daily Worker, the newspaper of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA).

  • H. Putnam: Advanced Education

    Putnam received his Ph.D. in 1951 from UCLA. Before joining the faculty of Harvard in 1965, he taught at Northwestern University from(1951-1952), Princeton University (1953-1961), where he received tenure in both the Department of Philosophy and the Department of Mathematics in 1960, and after that at M.I.T. (1961-1965). He would Spend the rest of his teaching days at Harvard from (1965-2000).
    https://philosophy.fas.harvard.edu/people/hilary-putnam

  • H. Putnam: Early Philosophy Contributions

    The beginning of his philosophical works was "The Meaning of 'Meaning'" (1975), which construes meanings not as purely mental entities (e.g., mental images) or as purely conceptual constructs but as being anchored in external reality.
    Philosophy of the Mind: "Philosophy and Our Mental Life" (1975).
    Realism Views: "Why There Isn't a Ready-Made World" (1983).
    See the following interview from: The Role ofLanguage. (1983). https://youtu.be/iiWf9WrzvN4

  • H. Putnam: Most Noted for..

    In the field of epistemology, he was known for the critique of "brain in a vat" thought experiment. This thought experiment provides a strong argument for epistemological skepticism, but Putnam challenged its validity.
    -He was known to equally scrutinize his own philosophical positions leading to a mixed reputation in the science community.
    -Outside of Philosophy, he also helped demonstrate the unsolvability of Hilbert's tenth problem.

  • H. Putnam: Later Work

    Realism with a Human Face (1990), Words and Life (1994), Ethics without Ontology (2004), Jewish Philosophy as a Guide to Life: Rosenzweig, Buber, Levinas, Wittgenstein (2008), and Philosophy in the Age of Science: Physics, Mathematics, and Skepticism (2012)-attest to this yearning. These writings convey a deep sense of moral commitment that had become as characteristic of Putnam's thinking as his lifelong commitment to objective truth.

  • Hilary Putnam: Death of a Philosopher

    Died on March 13 at his home in Arlington, Mass. He was 89. According to his daughter, the cause was metastasized mesothelioma.