He wrote about his views on meaning in two articles, meaning and reference 1973 and the meaning of meaning. His causal treatment of reference, developed in the mid1960s and most famously defended in the meaning of meaning 1975. Meaning appears to exist as the basis for such simplification. Hilary putnam meaning and reference article summary. Massachusetts had the highest population of putnam families in 1840. Reason, truth and history cambridge univ press, 1981 putnam provides a formal proof that modeltheoretic semantics fails as a theory of meaning, because he found a fundamental contradiction between the definition of meaning in model theory a function which assigns a truth value to a sentence for all possible cases and the constraint that the meaning of the parts cannot be changed without. Mind, language and reality, philosophical papers vol.
In 1975, putnam published a paper called the meaning of meaning, which challenged the orthodox view in the philosophies of language and mind. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. This was about 28% of all the recorded putnams in the usa. Minnesota studies in the philosophy of science, vol. Synopsis professor hilary putnam has been one of the most influential and sharply original of recent american philosophers in a whole range of fields. In a 1975 paper called the meaning of meaning, professor putnam further illustrated his argument with a famous thought experiment called twin earth. The longer paper contains a number of things that help to make clear what he is getting at in the shorter version.
A nowfamous thoughtexperiment in his paper the meaning of meaning 1975 imagined a planet that precisely duplicates ours except that. The doctrine that the meaning of a term is a concept carried the implication that mean ings are mental entities. The philosopher hilary putnam 19751985 proposed this position and summarized it with the statement meanings just aint in the head. The articles twin earth conclusions about meaning, thought and knowledge were shocking. To putnam, to the extent that such terms are defined ostensively, their extension actually determines their intension, in the sense that a paraphrase of the meaning of the term will be of the general form this thing right here, perhaps with an accompanying demonstration e. In 1975 harvard philosopher hilary putnam published a paper called the meaning of meaning, in which he challenged orthodox views in the philosophy of language and the philosophy of mind. July 31, 1926 march, 2016 was an american philosopher, mathematician, and computer scientist, and a major figure in. According to putnam, words get their meaning not from images or descriptions that individual speakers associate with those words in their minds, but from the causal links and contacts we have with the external world. This work contains writings on the subject of twin earth. Books by hilary putnam author of reason, truth and history. Hilary putnam, mind, language, and reality philpapers. Meaning and reference hilary putnam the journal of philosophy, vol. In what sense did putnam invent the doctrine of semantic externalism.
The twin earth chronicles by andrew pessin overdrive. It seems to have a lot to say, if indirectly, about what the sense of meaning might have been that modernism have grasped at unsuccessfully, that pomo threw out, and where postpomo might reasonably be able to go from there within the constraints of how human language seems to work. Only selected reprintings of shorter writings are mentioned, to clarify multiple versions. Who are the rightful owners of the concepts disease, illness and sickness. Instead its a detailed examination of what meaning is. This connection is manifest in putnams conception of meaning, first proposed in his classic paper the meaning of meaning 1975, which construes meanings not as purely mental entities e. Putnams article meaning and reference 1973 was subsequently expanded into a much longer paper called the meaning of meaning 1975. Professor hilary putnam has been one of the most influential and sharply original of recent american philosophers in a whole range of fields. The meaning of meaning putnams article meaning and reference 1973 was subsequently expanded into a much longer paper called the meaning of meaning 1975. In 1840 there were 192 putnam families living in massachusetts. Philosophy news hilary putnam on mind and meanings. Hilary putnams most popular book is reason, truth and history.
Although he did not use the term externalism at the time, putnam is thought to have pioneered semantic externalism in his 1975 paper the meaning of meaning. Because of the influence of carnap, kuhn, and malcolm, this relativist conception seemed viable at the time, and putnams response, accordingly, revolutionary. Multidisciplinary studies in the creation of meaning in language. The most putnam families were found in the usa in 1880. July 31, 1926 march, 2016 was an american philosopher, mathematician, and computer scientist, and a major figure in analytic philosophy in the second half of the 20th century. Hilary putnam quotes quotes of hilary putnam poem hunter. Mind, language and reality cambridge university press, 1975 mathematics, matter and method cambridge u. His most important published work is collected here, together with several new and substantial studies, in two volumes.
The meaning of meaning, mind language and reality, p. Feeling that meanings are public propertythat the same meaning can be grasped by more than one person and to be presented in an apa symposium on reference, december 28, 1973. Dec 17, 2018 hilary putnam, in his seminal paper, the meaning of meaning 1975, challenges the assertion that knowing the meaning of a term is just a matter of being in a certain psychological state i. He made significant contributions to philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and. Sep 16, 2016 in 1975, putnam published a paper called the meaning of meaning, which challenged the orthodox view in the philosophies of language and mind. In particular, putnam maintained in the meaning of meaning that the objects referred to by natural kind terms such as tiger, water, and tree are the principal elements of the meaning of such terms. Minnesota studies in the philosophy of science, volume 7 1975, page 1193. Mattey fall, 2005 philosophy 156 syntax and semantics great advances are being made in linguistics in our understanding of the basic syntax of language. Putnam, like most realists, also upheld the possibility of knowledge, distinguishing between knowledge and mere belief, convention, dogma, and superstition. An essay concerning humane understanding, volume 1 by john. The putnam family name was found in the usa, the uk, canada, and scotland between 1840 and 1920.
The longer paper contains a number of things that help to make clear what he is getting at in. Externalism and internalism in the philosophy of mind. His twin earth thought experiment, from the aforementioned paper, is widely cited to illustrate his argument for externalism to this day. Frege, however, rebelled against this psy chologism. Putnam, along with saul kripke, keith donnellan, and others, contributed to what is known as the causal theory of reference. Mar 14, 2016 a nowfamous thoughtexperiment in his paper the meaning of meaning 1975 imagined a planet that precisely duplicates ours except that the clear liquid which its inhabitants drink and swim. Mar 18, 2016 in a 1975 paper called the meaning of meaning, professor putnam further illustrated his argument with a famous thought experiment called twin earth. The meaning that guides functional simplification may be usefully considered as consisting of three classes. Feeling that meanings are public propertythat the same meaning can be grasped by more than one person and by persons at different timeshe identified concepts and hence. This was about 28% of all the recorded putnam s in the usa. The unifying theme of putnams philosophy is his defense of realism, the view that, ordinarily, assertions including theories, beliefs, and so on are objectively true or false. Introduction 1 language and philosophy 2 the analytic and synthetic 3 do true assertions correspond to reality. The articles twin earth thought experiment was simple, but the philosophical conclusions deriving from it about the nature of meaning and reference, of. Chapters of books are accompanied by a year of first publication.