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Date of Birth
Hilary Putnam was born July 31, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois. -
Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics
Hilary Putnam believed that mathematical logic is connected to applied science. He used logic in comparison to mathematics by asserting that math contained no objects of it's own at all. Putnam goes on to explained the differences between logic and mathematics as well. He believed that logic was a science beyond science that lacked certain boundaries while mathematics were constricted to a set of objects that are used that ultimately lead to an accepted answer. -
Semantic Externalism
Putnam wrote a paper in 1975 titled "The Meaning of 'Meaning'". The paper explained his idea that meaning determines reference always. It also created the idea that the meanings are concepts and, are therefore, psychological entities. For example, he believed that two people in the same psychological mindset would react the same to a specific word with the same reference. In this paper he also created the twin Earth thought which questioned our ability to distinguish between two similar objects. -
“Philosophy and Our Mental Life"
In 1975 Hilary Putnam published "Philosophy and Our Mental Life" that explained his idea of functionalism or "machine functionalism". In this doctrine he believes that the mind is not characterized by the material it is made out of, but by it's functions. In this doctrine he also created the "multiple realizability" thesis. He believed the same function can be performed in different physical systems, meaning that two physically different systems could have the same outcome. -
"Ethics Without Ontology"
Putnam shifted his long-standing defense of metaphysical realism, which was a traditional division between matters of fact and questions of value. Instead he believed that all perception implies valued judgments, meaning that moral judgments were not always independent of facts. He called this view "internal realism". He received a lot of skepticism over his view of shying away from reality itself and defended his argument by writing “Brains in a Vat” in (1981). -
Date of Death
Hilary Putnam died March 13, 2016, in Arlington, Massachusetts. -
References
Weissman, David. Metaphilosophy, vol. 36, no. 3, 2005, pp. 400–407. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24440254. Accessed 9 Aug. 2020. Sagüillo, José Miguel. “Hilary Putnam on the Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics.” Theoria: An International Journal for Theory, History and Foundations of Science, vol. 33, no. 2, 2018, pp. 183–200. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26450642. Accessed 9 Aug. 2020. -
References
Ben-Menahem, Y., 2020. Hilary Putnam - Philosophy Of Mind. [web] Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hilary-Putnam/Philosophy-of-mind [Accessed 8 August 2020]. Fodor, J., 1968. Philosophy And Our Mental Health. [web] Public.econ.duke.edu. Retrieved from: http://public.econ.duke.edu/~kdh9/Source%20Materials/Zurich%20Papers/Putnam_Philosophy_and_Mental_life_English_Article.pdf [Accessed 8 August 2020]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH785oawwkk
