http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/18/arts/hilary-putnam-giant-of-modern-philosophy-dies-at-89.html
RIP
>>856797
Damn, that is a shame
Had a lot of respect for Putnam, one of the few people who went back and criticized their own work.
Absolutely based guy, and contributed a ton to so many branches of philosophy.
rest in power niqqa
>>856797
>>856881
WHHHATT! Thanks for posting OP, I didn't know this.
I'm not a huge Putnam fan, but this guy deserves huge respect.
I agree, he deserves respect in part because he's one of the thinkers to go back and change his views--he wasn't afraid of admitting that he was wrong or had made a misstep. And I think that's really deserving of respect.
One of the funniest anecdotes I heard about Putnam--and the story was meant in jest, not as a criticism of Putnam--comes from the wit of Sidney Morgenbesser. Morgenbesser said of Putnam: "He’s a quantum philosopher. I can’t understand him and his position at the same time."
>>856902
Heh that's funny
>>856902
>he wasn't afraid of admitting that he was wrong
about what ?
>>857020
I should have said that he wasn't afraid of changing his position rather than admitting that he was wrong. Saying that he wasn't afraid of admitting he was wrong suggests that I have an informed opinion about what the *right* position is--and I don't, given that I don't know enough about the areas of philosophy he worked in.
I'm not a Putnam expert, so maybe someone else can chime in on the specifics--and it's been a long time since I've read or really had to engage with Putnam. But I do know that he changed positions in his views about realism, in particular his metaphysical views about realism; though he also changed his views in tons of other areas of philosophy.
I find that a lot of philosophers dig in their heels once they've developed a view or a theory. And it's good to push your ideas to the breaking point. But way too many philosophers (and thinkers) hold onto ideas way past the breaking point. And that just seems like a shame to me, and in many instances just a cop out of what philosophy and intellectual life is and ought to be. Putnam was committed to the process of thinking things through, so the excitement of reworking ideas and reworking views was greater than the holding on to the conviction that he had things right. And I think that's pretty damned cool.
>>857072
apparently he continued to cling to the Scientific realism.
>>857135
Well he wasn't insane, so naturally.
>>857929
Why is that stance not insane?
I wonder what he thought of goyim reading his books.
>>857949
Not him, but why you think scientific realism insane?
>>857968
I don't.
>>857966
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_American_philosophers
Don't let the goyim know
>>857949
Because you are bonkers if you are not a scientific realist.
>>857987
I'm just asking for an argument. This isn't an argument.
>>858001
I think the no miracles argument is a good one to start with.
>>858006
OK, how does that argument go?
Let's not dwell into shitposting and have a look on what he did. He made a huge impact in philosophy of the mind by introducing a kind of functionalism that argues that a mental state and brain state aren't identical, called multiple realizability. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/multiple-realizability/
It may sound like common sense that "pain" and "this specific neuron is firing" but it closes the door for things like animals feeling pain or anything having a brain that isn't exactly like us. This in turn helped to kickstart computationalism, the view that the mind and brain is basically a software run on a computer but haven't gotten a lot of attention before. Computer science with your average undergrad student thinking that the brain acting like a computer is obvious wouldn't look like it did today if it wasn't for Putman.
He had a blog I recommend anyone interested to have a look at. http://putnamphil dot blogspot
>>858042
That doesn't solve the hard problem of consciousness
>>858049
The hard problem of conscious isn't meant to be solved. It's meant to provide fodder for academic careers and book sales.
>>858049
Are you sure you're in the right thread or replying to the right person?
>>858042
>Computer science with your average undergrad student thinking that the brain acting like a computer is obvious wouldn't look like it did today if it wasn't for Putman.
which is a disease. thank you putman for being a undergrad rationalist.
