Hilary putnam   brain in a vat

Hilary Whitehall Putnam July 31, 1926 - March 13, 2016

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    Professor of Philosophy

    Was Professor of philosophy at Princeton between 1953 and 1960.
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    Professor at MIT

    Professor of mathematics at MIT between 1960 and 1965
  • Dualism of the theoretical and the observational

    Hilary Putnam makes a statement pertaining to "the aim of science". That basically there is no aim of science within itself but it is the aim of scientists. Different scientists have different purposes. Some scientists are, indeed, primarily interested in prediction and control of human experience; but most scientists are interested in such objects as viruses and radio stars in their own right.
  • "The Meaning of Meaning"

    His classic paper "construes meanings not as purely mental entities or purely conceptual constructs but as being anchored in external reality". His main objective was about truth and knowledge that also supported realism.
  • Metaphysical Realism vs. Internal Realism

    Hilary Putnam recommended internal realism should replace metaphysical realism. "Truth under a description, he maintained, is all the truth one needs to avoid subjectivism and relativism."