Reading Putnam

Hilary Putnam is one of the world's leading philosophers. His work has made enormous contributions to a rich variety of philosophical topics and debates. His work is highly original and often provocative and he coined some now familiar, classic philosophical thought experiments, such as 'the brain in the vat' and 'Twin earth' puzzles. Reading Putnamis an outstanding overview and assessment of his thought by a team of international contributors, and includes replies by Putnam himself. Divided into four clear sections, Reading Putnamcontains chapters on the following key aspects of Putnam's philosophy: Putnam's philosophical realism and the changes his thought has undergone on this topic Analyticity and ontology, including the important relationship between Putnam and the work of 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 reading of Aristotle, Kant, William James and Wittgenstein and the important role these philosophers have played in his work Offering an excellent survey of Putnam's work Reading Putnamis essential reading for students studying philosophy of mind, language and philosophy of science, and anyone interested in twentieth century philosophy.