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Philosophy of Mathematics
Hilary Putnam and his mentor Quine contributed to the philosophy of mathematics by developing the Quine-Putnam indispensability theory. The numbers, sets, and groups have an indispensable role in empirical science. He also provided the proof that Diophantine Equations were impossible to solve by algorithms. (Yemima, 2018). -
Semantic Externalism
Putnam later abandoned functionalism and replaced it by his new doctrine called semantic externalism. The term semantic externalism implies that the meaning of an expression is determined by external factors from the speaker. This infers that people can be in the same mental state, and utter the same word, but have different meanings for the word they said. Putnam reinforced his theory with Twin Earth thought experiment that he conducted. -
Functionalism
Hilary Putnam’s philosophical sensibilities shifted throughout the course of his scientific career. In his functionalism doctrine, Putnam replaces the thought of psychophysical reductionism, the explanation of mental experiences solely based on properties of physical systems. Putnam compares the human mind to a computer, where an input is given, and thus produces a specific output, later coined as multiple realizability thesis. (Yemima, 2018). -
Attack Against Metaphyical Realism
Hilary Putnam is well-known for his defense for realism, and that truth and knowledge are objective. He attacked the thought of metaphysical realism, and replaced the term with internal realism. Metaphysical realism is the belief that the world, and the objects in it, exists independently to how people perceive it. These realists argue that our beliefs about out world could not be objectively true because beliefs are object no matter if they are true or false, because it is opinion based. -
Twin Earth Theory Video