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Born in Chicago, Illinois
Hilary Putnam was born in Chicago, Illinois to Samuel and Riva Putnam. He spent sometime living in France but moved back to the states in 1934. In high school he befriended Noam Chomsky who was also his intellectual opponent for the rest of his career. -
Received PhD in Philosophy
Hilary Putnam received his PhD in Philosophy from UCLA with his dissertation called “The Meaning of the Concept of Probability in Application to Finite Sequences” This is when Putnam made his stance against Logical Positivism, which he maintained for the rest of his career. -
Began teaching at Harvard
After teaching at Northwestern University, Princeton University and MIT, Putnam moved on to Harvard. He became very popular as a professor at Harvard and was very politically active. -
Elected President of the American Philosophical Society
Hilary Putnam received many elections and recognition for his contribution to the many sectors or Philosophy. He believed that academics and philosophy had a responsibility to society. -
Published "The Idea Of Science"
Hilary Putnam’s stance on philosophy of science was really rooted in the idea that truth and reality are subjective. Many of his papers explored these theories and even revised some of his earlier ideas.
Here is an interview where he talk extensively about his theories and how he formulated them.
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Died
His last known place of residence and death was in Arlington, Massachusetts