1st Edition

Interpreting Putnam

Edited By Roberto Gronda, Giancarlo Marchetti Copyright 2027
406 Pages
by Routledge

Hilary Putnam is widely regarded as one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. This volume deals with the manifold aspects of Putnam’s philosophy, either by reconstructing its internal evolution or by showing its originality and relevance for contemporary debates. Putnam’s contributions have had a profound impact across a wide range of philosophical subdisciplines. His... Read more

On Putnam’s Philosophy Roberto Gronda and Giancarlo Marchetti 

Part 1 Language, Mind, Knowledge, and Metaphysics 

1 Hilary Putnam: Thought on Thought Charles Travis 

2 Putnam, Privileged Observers, and Special Relativity James Van Cleve 

3 On the Anti-Functionalist Arguments of Saul Kripke and Hilary Putnam Jeff Buechner 

4 Metaphysical Realism and Semantic Externalism Jonathan Knowles 

5 Contextual Assumptions and Interests in Ontology: Putnam’s Legacy in Recent Applications Paolo Valore 

6 Putnam on Sellars’ Manifest and Scientific Images of the World James O’Shea 

7 Putnam and Wittgenstein on Radical Scepticism Duncan Pritchard 

Part 2 The Pragmatist Heritage 

8 Hilary Putnam and the Trajectory of Classical Pragmatism Elijah Millgram 

9 Putnam’s Nuanced Pragmatism: Realism, Perception, and Truth Michela Bella 

10 The Representationalist and the Anti-Representationalist Massimo Dell’Utri 

11 Enlightenment: Putnam’s Old Name for Some New Ways of Thinking Diana Heney 

12 The Putnam-Rorty Debate and Insurrectionist Ethics Chris Voparil 

Part 3 Ethics and Politics 

13 Putnam on ‘The Last Dogma of Empiricism’: From Auto da Fé to Epistemic Disobedience? Paul Giladi 

14 Hilary Putnam and the Epistemology of Democracy David Rondel 

15 Philosophy of Religion as a Humanistic Discipline Sami Pihlström 

16 Jewish Philosophy as a Guide to Philosophy: Hilary Putnam, Philosophy, and Jewish Philosophy Claire Elise Katz 

Biography

Roberto Gronda is Associate Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Pisa. He has published extensively on the pragmatist philosophy of science and on the philosophy of scientific expertise. His most recent monograph is Dewey’s Philosophy of Science (2020). He is the coeditor of Pragmatism and Philosophy of Science. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Routledge 2026)

Giancarlo Marchetti is Associate professor of Philosophy at the University of Perugia. His research interests include American philosophy, pragmatism, and neopragmatism. He is the editor of The Ethics, Epistemology and Politics of Richard Rorty (Routledge 2023); and coeditor of Facts and Values: The Ethics and Metaphysics of Normativity (Routledge 2018) and Pragmatism and Philosophy of Science. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Routledge 2026)