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Date of Birth
Hilary Whitehall Putnam was born on July 31st, 1926, in Chicago, Illinois. His family moved to Paris when he was six months old, making it the location of his upbringing. According to Maria Baghramian, a fellow professor of philosophy and dear friend of Putnam, Putnam's upbringing in the artistic world of Paris is considered one of the reasons for his dislike of contemporary philosophy. -
Education at University of Pennsylvania
After moving back to the United States years later, Putnam attended University of Pennsylvania for his undergraduate studies and graduated 1948. He took courses in philosophy, German, and linguistic analysis, among others. Upon his graduation, Putnam filled the requirements for majors in philosophy, German, and linguistics. In 1951, Putnam received his Ph.D. after completing graduate work at UCLA's philosophy department. -
Teaching Posts
Putnam’s first teaching posts were in math and philosophy at Northwestern University (1952-53) and Princeton (1953-61). He was then a professor of the philosophy of science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1961-65), until his 1965 move to Harvard where he remained a professor of philosophy for several years. Over the course of holding these positions, Putnam became majorly known for contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of language, logic, mathematics, and mind. -
Elected President of the American Philosophical Association
In addition to being a philosopher, Putman was also a mathematician, computer scientist, and known figure in analytic philosophy during the second half of the 20th century. In 1976, he was elected president of the American Philosophical Association. The following year, he was recognized as Walter Beverly Pearson Professor of Mathematical Logic, largely due to his contributions to the philosophy of both logic and mathematics. -
The Fact/Value Dichotomy
During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, one of Putnam's main contributions to ethical thinking was his rejection of the traditional division between matters of fact and questions of value. Putnam can be found describing and discussing the disjunction between fact and value in relation to philosophy in many of his published works and interviews. In 2007, he addressed the fact/value dichotomy and its critics at University College Dublin. https://youtu.be/SurX_oe_MPo?si=99-2ayqPNshkr4F9 -
Date of Death
For his numerous contributions within the fields of philosophy and logic, Putnam was awarded two established prizes as recognition shortly before he died at his home in Arlington, Massachusetts, on March 13, 2016, at the age of 89 years old. According to his close friend, Professor Maria Baghramian, Putnam's last few years of life led him to the view that a correct theory of perception is the key to a correct account of the relationship between thought and the world.