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Birth and Death
Hilary Putnam was born in Chicago, IL on July 31, 1926 and lived a life full of success until March 13, 2016. -
Early Education
Hilary Putnam started his studies at the University of Pennsylvania and attended Harvard and UCLA for graduate studies. He obtained his PhD in Math and Philosophy in 1951 from UCLA and went on to teaching at Northwestern University, MIT and Princeton until his career furthered in 1976. -
Diophantine Equations
In 1961, Putnam and 3 other scientists went on to try and solve 1 of 23 unsolvable equations in mathematics. The equations were initially deemed unsolvable by David Hilbert in 1900. Putnam ended up seconding that thought with the assistance of another mathematician in 1970. -
Twin Earth
The Twin Earth theory is elaborated on in 2 of Putnam's works (The Meaning of Meaning (1975) and Meaning and Reference (1973)). This theory goes more into the philosophy of language and understanding. Where two things can be exactly identical yet one explanation may not match another. -
The Meaning of Meaning
In 1975, the publication "The meaning of meaning" was written and published by Hilary Putnam. It was to expand on an idea that meaning can not singularly exist in someone's mind. One of the ideas in this work is that a meaning has to have a widely accepted, external anchor in reality for it to be at the core of understanding. -
Metaphysical Realism
Putnam was notorious for going back and forth on his theories with constant revision even after he had published works. He wrote his view on Metaphysical Realism and then recanted all of that work in 1976 with a revision called "Internal Realism". -
Twin Earth (Cont.)
[https://youtu.be/KE8NL9G_Fq8]
This video gives a clear explanation of Hilary Putnam's Twin Earth theory.