Reading Putnam

Hilary Putnam is one of the world’s leading philosophers. His highly original and often provocative ideas have set the agenda for a variety of debates in philosophy of science, philosophy of mind and philosophy of language. His now famous philosophical thought experiments, such as the ‘Twin earth’ and ‘the brains in the vat’ have become part of the established canon in philosophy and cognitive science.
Reading Putnam is an outstanding overview and assessment of Hilary Putnam’s work by a team of international contributors, and includes replies by Putnam himself. Divided into clear sections, it contains chapters on key aspects of Putnam’s large body of writing, including:



Scientific realism and the changes that Putnam’s thought has undergone on this topic




analyticity and ontology, including the important interconnections between the views of Putnam and Quine




Putnam’s arguments concerning externalist views of meaning and reference, questions of conceptual relativity, and his preoccupation with ethics through a denial of the fact–value dichotomy




Putnam’s developing views on perception.


Offering an excellent survey of Putnam’s work, Reading Putnam is essential for those studying philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and philosophy of science, as well as for anyone interested in contemporary philosophy.

Hilary Putnam is Cogan University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, USA. He is the author of eighteen books and numerous articles. His work has been instrumental in furthering research in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of science and mathematics.

Maria Baghramian is currently the Head of School of Philosophy at University College Dublin, Ireland and the editor of the International Journal of Philosophical Studies. She is a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

Introduction: A life in Philosophy, Maria Baghramian Prologue: From Quantum Mechanics to Ethics and Back Again, Hilary Putnam Part 1: The Enigma of Realism 1. What of Pragmatism with the World Here?, Richard Boyd 2. Hilary and Me: Tracking down Putnam on the Realism Issue, Michael Devitt 3. Putnam and the Philosophical Appeal to Common Sense, David Macarthur Part 2: On What There Is 5. Putnam vs. Quine on Revisability and the Analytic-Synthetic Distinction, Axel Mueller 6. Putnam on Existence and Ontology, Charles Parsons 7. Some Sources of Putnam’s Pluralism, Russell Goodman 8. Physics and Narrative, David Albert 9. Hilary Putnam’s Moral Philosophy, Ruth Anna Putnam Part 3: Perception 10. Some Remarks on Externalism, Tyler Burge 11. Wittgenstein and Qualia, Ned Block 12. Affording us the World, Charles Travis 13. Concepts in Perceptual Experience: Putnam and Travis, John McDowell Part 4: An Epilogue 14. On Nietzschean Perfectionism, Stanley Cavell. Index