The Philosophy of Hilary Putnam

by Randall E. Auxier (Editor), Douglas R. Anderson (Editor), Lewis Edwin Hahn (Editor)

Overview

Hilary Putnam, who turned 88 in 2014, is one of the world’s greatest living philosophers. He currently holds the position of Cogan University Professor Emeritus of Harvard. He has been called “one of the 20th century’s true philosophic giants” (by Malcolm Thorndike Nicholson in Prospect magazine in 2013). He has been very influential in several different areas of philosophy: philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science. This volume in the prestigious Library of Living Philosophers series contains 26 chapters original to this work, each written by a well-known philosopher, including the late Richard Rorty and the late Michael Dummett. The volume also includes Putnam’s reply to each of the 26 critical and descriptive essays, which cover the broad range of Putnam’s thought. They are organized thematically into the following parts: Philosophy and Mathematics, Logic and Language, Knowing and Being, Philosophy of Practice, and Elements of Pragmatism. Readers will also appreciate the extensive Intellectual Autobiography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780812698985
Publisher:	Open Court Publishing Company
Publication date:	05/18/2015
Series:	Library of Living Philosophers , #34
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	960
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Randall E. Auxier, Editor of the Library of Living Philosophers from 2001 to 2013, is Professor of Philosophy at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale and General Editor of The Works of Josiah Royce. He is author of Time, Will, and Purpose: Living Ideas from the Philosophy of Josiah Royce (2013). He edited Responses to Royce (2000) and has co-edited many volumes including The Philosophy of Arthur C. Danto (2013) and The Philosophy of Richard Rorty.

Douglas R. Anderson is Editor of the Library of Living Philosophers and Professor of Philosophy at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He is author of Philosophy and Americana: Making Philosophy at Home in American Culture (2006) and Strands of System: The Philosophy of Charles Peirce (1995). He is the former editor of the Journal of Speculative Philosophy and the Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society.

The late Lewis Edwin Hahn was Editor of the Library of Living Philosophers from 1981 to 2001. As Paul Schilpp's successor he edited three LLP volumes with Dr. Schilpp and eight volumes as sole editor, then conceived, planned, and began the creation of seven more volumes. He authored A Contextualistic Theory of Perception (1942), Value: A Co-operative Inquiry (with John Dewey and others, 1949), and A Contextualistic World View (2001). Dr. Hahn co-edited The Early Works of John Dewey, 1882-1898 (1967-1972) and wrote numerous articles for scholarly journals and collections.

Table of Contents

Frontispiece iv

General Introduction to the Library of Living Philosophers vii

Founder's General Introduction to the Library of Living Philosophers ix

Advisory Board xii

Preface xvii

Part 1 Intellectual Autobiography of Hilary Putnam 1

Sample of Putnam's Handwriting 2

Intellectual Autobiography of Hilary Putnam 3

Part 2 Descriptive and Critical Essays on the Philosophy of Hilary Putnam With Replies 111

I Philosophy and Mathematics

1 Putnam on Realism and "Empiricism" in Mathematics Charles Parsons 113

Reply To Charles Parsons 134

2 Mathematical Undecidables, Metaphysical Realism, and Equivalent Descriptions Hartry Field 145

Reply To Hartry Field 173

3 Putnam, Wittgenstein, and the Objectivity of Mathematics Fellx Mulholzer 181

Reply To Felix Mulholzer 212

4 Modal and Objectual Steven J. Wagner 221

Reply To Steven J. Wagner 240

5 Infinite Possibilities and Possibilities of Infinity Geoffrey Hellman 259

Reply To Geoffrey Hellman 279

II Logic And Language

6 Engaging Charles Travis 283

Reply to Charles Travis 311

7 What Does It Mean to Say "Water is Necessarily H²O"? Alan Berger 315

Reply To Alan Berger 332

8 Natural Kinds, Hidden Structures, and Pragmatic Instincts Ian Hacking 337

Reply To Ian Hacking 358

9 The State of Affairs Regarding True Assertions Robert K. Shope 365

Reply To Robert K. Shope 385

10 Putnam and the Contextually A Priori Gary Ebbs 389

Reply To Gary Ebbs 412

11 What Do Permutation Arguments Prove? Michael Dummett 419

Reply To Michael Dummett 437

III Knowing and Being

12 Revisiting the Refutation of Conventionalism Yemima Ben-Menahem 451

Reply To Yemima Ben-Menahem 479

13 Confessions of a Hardcore, Unsophisticated Metaphysical Realist Tim Maudlin 487

Reply To Tim Maudlin 502

14 Putnam and Wittgenstein Frederick Stoutland 511

Reply To Frederick Stoutland 547

15 Realism, Reference, and Reason: Remarks on Putnam and Kant CARL POSY 565

Reply To Carl Posy 599

16 Putnam and Wittgensteinian Baby-Throwing: Variations on a Theme Cora Diamond 603

Reply To Cora Diamond 640

17 Putnam on Natural Realism John Mcdowell 643

Reply To John McDowell 659

IV Philosopher of Practice

18 Words in Life: "Philosophy as Education for Grownups" Pierre Hadot 669

Reply To Pierre Hadot 677

19 Philosophy, Causality, and God John Haldane 683

Reply To John Haldane 702

20 Hilary Putnam's Jewish Philosophy Ruth Anna Putnam 707

Reply To Ruth Anna Putnam 725

21 Putnam on Wittgenstein and Religious Language Simon Blackburn 735

Reply To Simon Blackburn 750

22 Hilary Putnam and the Third Enlightenment Cornel West 757

Reply To Cornel West 768

V Elements of Pragmatism

23 Putnam's Progress: The Deweyan Deposit In His Thinking Larry A. Htckman 775

Reply To Larry A. Hickman 788

24 What Is the Use of Calling Putnam a Pragmatist? Harvey Cormier 801

Reply To Harvey Cormier 820

25 Toward a Responsible and Rational Ethical Discussion: A Critique of Putnam's Pragmatic Approach Marcin Kilanowski 827

Reply To Margin Kilanowski 851

26 Putnam, Pragmatism, and Parmenides Richard Rorty 863

Reply To Richard Rorty 882

Part 3 Bibliography of the Writings of Hilary Putnam 891

Index 925