Reading Putnam / edited by Maria Baghramian.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Baghramian, Maria.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Putnam, Hilary.

Physical Description:

ix, 385 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2012.

Summary:

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. Book jacket.

Contents:

I The enigma of realism 37

1 What of pragmatism with the world here? / Richard Boyd Boyd, Richard 39

Comments on Richard Boyd / Hilary Putnam Putnam, Hilary 95

2 Hilary and me: tracking down Putnam on the realism issue / Michael Devitt Devitt, Michael 101

Comments on Michael Devitt / Hilary Putnam Putnam, Hilary 121

3 Putnam and the philosophical appeal to common sense / David Macarthur Macarthur, David 127

Comments on David Macarthur / Hilary Putnam Putnam, Hilary 140

II On what there is 143

4 Putnam versus Quine on revisability and the analytic-synthetic distinction / Axel Mueller Mueller, Axel 145

Comments on Axel Mueller / Hilary Putnam Putnam, Hilary 179

5 Putnam on existence and ontology / Charles Parsons Parsons, Charles 182

Comments on Charles Parsons / Hilary Putnam Putnam, Hilary 202

6 Some sources of Putnam's pluralism / Russell B. Goodman Goodman, Russell B. 205

Comments on Russell Goodman / Hilary Putnam Putnam, Hilary 219

7 Physics and narrative / David Z. Albert Albert, David Z. 225

Comments on David Albert / Hilary Putnam Putnam, Hilary 237

8 Hilary Putnam's moral philosophy / Ruth Anna Putnam Putnam, Ruth Anna 240

Comments on Ruth Anna Putnam / Hilary Putnam Putnam, Hilary 257

III Perception 261

9 Some remarks on "externalisms" / Tyler Burge Burge, Tyler 263

Comments on Tyler Burge / Hilary Putnam Putnam, Hilary 272

10 Wittgenstein and qualia / Ned Block Block, Ned 275

Comments on Ned Block / Hilary Putnam Putnam, Hilary 319

11 Affording us the world / Charles Travis Travis, Charles 322

12 Concepts in perceptual experience: Putnam and Travis / John Mcdowell Mcdowell, John 341

Comments on Travis and McDowell / Hilary Putnam Putnam, Hilary 347

IV Epilogue 359

13 On Nietzschean perfectionism / Stanley Cavell Cavell, Stanley 361.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415530064

0415530067

9780415530071

0415530075

9780203117095

0203117093

OCLC:

767569424