Reason, Truth and History (Philosophical Papers (Cambridge)) [Paperback]

Hilary Putnam (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521297761 | ISBN-13: 978-0521297769 | Publication Date: December 31, 1981

Hilary Putnam deals in this book with some of the most fundamental persistent problems in philosophy: the nature of truth, knowledge and rationality. His aim is to break down the fixed categories of thought which have always appeared to define and constrain the permissible solutions to these problems.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Hilary Putnam's Reason, Truth, and History is an interesting, ambitious well-written book, which deals with a broad set of issues (in epistemology, metaphysics, value theory, and the philosophy of language) and diverse thinkers (ranging from Plato, Berkeley and Kant to Carnap, Quine, Kuhn, Wittgenstein, and Foucault). In spite of its broad scope, the book is both relatively short and possesses a remarkable degree of unity and coherence ... the book is important because it reflects a serious effort to break the grip that the natural sciences have had on philosophical thought in this century. Although Putnam is not hostile to science, he rejects the equation of rational thinking with scientific thinking and rejects the idea that science provides the only true descriptions of reality.' International Philosophical Quarterly

'This is a timely book, with penetrating discussion of issues very much in the forefront of the contemporary philosophy. Despite the prominence of negative arguments it contains much to contribute positively to our understanding of what is needed for a conception of rationality and objectivity that covers ethics and value theory generally as well as physics.' Ethics

'It is refreshingly wide-ranging and ambitious, covering the philosophies of logic, language and knowledge, philosophy of mind, philosophy of history, and ethics. It manages to derive fresh insights even from such familiar topics as Wittgenstein's so-called Private Language argument. Without pretentiousness or name-dropping, it combines strands from recent Anglo-American and Continental philosophy. And it is written in a style which is usually lively and witty.' Philosophical Books

Book Description

Concerned with some of the most fundamental problems in philosophy, the nature of truth, knowledge, and rationality, Putnam's aim is to break down the fixed categories of thought that have always appeared to define and constrain the permissible solutions to these problems.

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (December 31, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521297761
• ISBN-13: 978-0521297769
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #747,062 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important work in the Western analytic philosophical style, December 4, 2006

By 

bryan12603 (Poughkeepsie, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reason, Truth and History (Philosophical Papers (Cambridge)) (Paperback)

This is a review of Reason, Truth and History by Hilary Putnam.

Hilary Putnam (born 1926) is one of the leading philosophers in the English-speaking world in the 20th (and early 21st) century. He is in the "analytic" philosophical tradition, which emphasizes rigorous argumentation and incorporating into philosophy the insights of science and mathematics, so his work is sometimes technical. This book is a combination of ingenious but difficult arguments (there is an appendix that contains a formal mathematical proof of one of his claims) with much more readable discussions of issues of general philosophical interest. I have met Putnam in person, and this book gives you a feel for what he is like: brilliant, intellectually broad and quick, but sometimes a bit glib.

Putnam has fundamentally changed his philosophical views several times. (He published this book in 1981.) But you will get a taste of his most famous claims from this work. There is a warning on p. viii that many readers may want to begin with Chapter 5 (a non-technical chapter). This is good advice. I am a professional philosopher, and even I found my eyes glazing over at points in Chapters 1-4.

Overall, you can see Putnam as *rejecting* the following common conception. The content of the meanings of our words and our beliefs is given by something internal to our minds or brains. Our beliefs are true just in case they "correspond" to a world that is completely independent of our beliefs. Science is the best (and perhaps the only) method for determining the correspondence between beliefs and the world. Science can "prove" its claims via a strict, logical scientific method. Ethics and values are subjective matters of opinion, since they are not proveable like science.

Putnam is similar to many critics (including Thomas Kuhn, Paul Feyerabend and the so-called "postmodern" philosophers) in recognizing that the picture given by the preceding paragraph must (and I mean MUST) be mistaken. The content of our beliefs and concepts is determined, in part, by things external to them (Chapter 1). There is no way to make sense of concepts and beliefs corresponding to the world, at least not if we think of the world as completely independent of our mental states (Chapter 2). The methodology of science cannot be reduced to formal logic and mathematics (Chapter 8). Fact and value cannot be neatly separated (Chapter 6).

However, Putnam diverges from many "postmodernists" in rejecting relativism and wanting to maintain some notions of truth and rationality. His basic move is to say that we can continue to ask questions like "What is real?" "Is theory A more rational than theory B?" and "Is X true?" but we can only ask them internally to our theories. Putnam argues that this does not land us in relativism or chaos because we are committed (by the very nature of our human practices) to treating other humans as rational in a way that is comprehensible to us (even if we end up disagreeing with them). In short, to treat someone as a "person" is to treat them as potentially disagreeing with us, but as disagreeing with us about the same world, and disagreeing in way that we can understand (and hence rationally argue with).

Overall, if you are going to read only one work by Putnam, I would recommend this one. But if you have not read any analytic philosophy before, be prepared to skim parts.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Philosophy Analytically Done, January 31, 2001

By 

D. S. Heersink "D. Stephen Heersink" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reason, Truth and History (Philosophical Papers (Cambridge)) (Paperback)

Analytic philosophy is often forebidding, and Prof. Putnam is a quintessential analytic philosopher. But, for those wanting an accessible book to try their minds in the analytical tradition without being overwhelmed, this is a nice start. The "Brains in a Vat" chapter is a bit tiresome as an analytic tool, but the remainder of the book is less obscure and more provocative. The book covers metaphysics, value theory, ethics, and epistemology in a highly engaging manner. If only more analytic philosophers wrote with such clarity and easy style. Don't be fooled. This book will be a mental workout, but one you'll enjoy rather than belabor.

5.0 out of 5 stars this is what I want, November 7, 2011

By 

Akakie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reason, Truth and History (Philosophical Papers (Cambridge)) (Paperback)

Uh...Cause I'm learning phenomenalism, and "brain in a vat" is a good and interesting example. I haven't read all this book, but I believe the rest wolud be the same graet.