Reading Putnam

Maria Baghramian editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:27th Jul '12

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Reading Putnam cover

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.

"Some of the papers in this varied collection interpret Putnam's claims or arguments, others present new work on a topic relating to Putnam's interests, and still others interpret and argue for positive views of their own. They are all interesting and clearly written, as are Putnam's responses. … The volume reminds us of the breadth, depth and creativity of Putnam's thinking, and the large number of very fundamental contributions that he has made." – Cory Juhl, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

“This edited volume is one [of] the liveliest and most thought-provoking compilations one can find on the shelves today. Containing contributions by some of the leading writers of the philosophical world, it offers the latest word on the most central issues that have been occupying English speaking philosophers over the last 100 years.” -Yuval Dolev, Analysis


"Some of the papers in this varied collection interpret Putnam's claims or arguments, others present new work on a topic relating to Putnam's interests, and still others interpret and argue for positive views of their own. They are all interesting and clearly written, as are Putnam's responses. … The volume reminds us of the breadth, depth and creativity of Putnam's thinking, and the large number of very fundamental contributions that he has made." – Cory Juhl, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

ISBN: 9780415530071

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 635g

396 pages