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Hilary Putnam was an only child born in Chicago, lived in France until he was 8 years old and then moved to Philadelphia where he ended up going to three separate colleges. He studied various philosophies, metaphysics and epistemology. He was a professor at 4 separate colleges until he retired in 2000. He was active in several groups including Students for Democratic Society and a Maoist group. His theories left behind are the theory of meaning, brain in a vat concept and more.
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Putnam's Mind and Machine theory or the brain-state hypothesis, says that "pain is a brain state". It implies that the brain is a machine and can only detect pain if it has the correct chemical structure and is in the same physical state. This can also be perceived with other emotions and feelings. The brain can or cannot feel certain things if the chemical structure is not there.
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The twin earth concept also known as Putnam's Meaning of Meaning Theory, states that just because two people have the same exact meaning of something doesn't mean that the true meaning is the same thing. carneadesofcyrene. “Twin Earth (Thought Experiment).” YouTube, YouTube, 27 Oct. 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE8NL9G_Fq8.
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Putnam's Brain in a Vat Theory states that our brains can function outside of the body given the correct circumstances and can create its own perception of reality and what things are based on the 5 senses. The brain is removed from the body, placed in a solution and electrical signals are sent to it via computer system. This theory implies that our brains are like machines and that we can "live" outside of our human bodies.
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“Hilary Putnam.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hilary-Putnam.
HKT Consultant. “Hilary Putnam.” HKT Consultant, 18 Jan. 2021, https://sciencetheory.net/hilary-putnam/#:~:text=According%20to%20this%20theory%2C%20the%20mind%20is%2C%20basically%2C,state%20can%20be%20realized%20in%20different%20material%20substrates. -
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://iep.utm.edu/brain-in-a-vat-argument/.
“Minds and Machines.” MIT Open Learning Library, https://openlearninglibrary.mit.edu/courses/course-v1:MITx+24.09x+3T2019/jump_to/block-v1:MITx+24.09x+3T2019+type@sequential+block@cc5058808437440a93a75ff3bcc8ec10.
srfkultur. “Thought Experiment ‘Brain in a Vat’ (English) #Filosofix.” YouTube, YouTube, 14 Oct. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO0sSJB1TrI.