Hilary Putnam
Hilary Whitehall Putnam (July 31, 1926 – March 13, 2016) was an American philosopher, mathematician, and computer scientist. He was a central figure in analytic philosophy from the 1960s. He worked in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of science. Until his death, Putnam was Cogan University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University.
Putnam was born in Chicago, Illinois. He studied at Harvard University, at University of Pennsylvania and at the University of California, Los Angeles. Putnam died on March 13, 2016 from mesothelioma at his home in Boston, Massachusetts.[1][2] He was aged 89.
Hilary Putnam Media
An illustration of multiple realizability. M stands for mental and P stands for physical. It can be seen that more than one P can instantiate one M, but not vice versa. Causal relations between states are represented by the arrows (M1 goes to M2, etc.).
A "brain in a vat"—Putnam uses this thought experiment to argue that skeptical scenarios are impossible.
References
- ↑ "Boston Globe Obituaries". Retrieved 13 March 2016.
- ↑ HILARY PUTNAM Obituary - Brookline, MA | Boston Globe
Other websites
- Hilary Putnam on IMDb
- An extensive bibliography
- An extensive directory Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine
- London Review of Books contributor page
- Hilary Putnam: On Mind, Meaning and Reality Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, Interview by Josh Harlan, The Harvard Review of Philosophy, spring 1992.
- "To Think with Integrity" Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, Hilary Putnam's Farewell Lecture, The Harvard Review of Philosophy, Spring 2000.