Hilary Putnam 1926 – 2016
Hilary Putnam was an American philosopher and one of the central figures of late twentieth-century analytic philosophy. Over a long career at Harvard he made foundational contributions to philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of science, and changed his views often enough that his trajectory itself became a topic of philosophical study. He developed semantic externalism through the famous Twin Earth thought experiment, the functionalist account of mind that he later partially renounced, and an internal realism informed by his renewed engagement with American pragmatism. He was active in left politics throughout his career.
Key facts
- Nationality
- American
- Era
- Contemporary
- Movements
- Analytic, Pragmatism
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Hilary Putnam:
“Cut the pie any way you like, meanings just ain't in the head.”
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Attributed to Hilary Putnam:
“The mind and the world jointly make up the mind and the world.”
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Attributed to Hilary Putnam:
“Philosophy without skill in argument is impossible; but skill in argument is not enough.”
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Attributed to Hilary Putnam:
“What science cannot tell us, mankind cannot know.”
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Attributed to Hilary Putnam:
“The fact-value dichotomy is itself untenable.”