Hilary Putnam

By rmonge9
  • Birth of Putnam

    Hilary Putnam was born on July 31, 1926 in Chicago Illinois. He was a single child and his father, Samuel Putnam was a writer and translator who worked as a columnist for the Daily Worker.
  • Moving to Philadelphia

    At the age of eight Putnam and his family moved to Philadelphia. French being Putnam's first language it was difficult to make friends, but he did befriend Noam Chomsky who was one of Putnam's best friend throughout his life.
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    University Years

    At the age of twenty two Putnam graduated in with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and philosophy. This occurred at the University of Philadelphia, Putnam then started his PhD at Harvard University. Putnam graduated with his PhD at the age of twenty five at the University of California in Los Angles.
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    Researcher

    In the short one year occupation he had with the Rockefeller Foundation. Putnam worked as a researcher for the foundation after graduating at UCLA.
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    Professor Years

    Please read attached document.
  • Semantic Externalism

    Please read attached document.
  • Death of Putnam

    Hilary Putnam died at the age of ninety in Arlington, Massachusetts. His great contributions to the philosophy of language are greatly appreciated till this day.
  • Semantic Externalism in Depth

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at5J2rC3PkM
    For the video above, it explains the difference between internal and external meanings of words. Note that Hilary Putnam argued for externalism.