On Mon 23 Jan, we will focus primarily on Putnam's article (Chpt. 3). Although the article is only four pages long, it has several important and somewhat subtle philosophical arguments. The most important thing to remember while you read the Putnam article is the distinction between language and wold that we have discussed.
If we have time, we will begin our discussion of the article by Maxwell (Chpt. 4)
Read
- Putnam, Chpt. 3 - study this one very carefully.
- Maxwell, Chpt. 4
Think about
- How does Putnam reach the conclusion that there are no observation terms and why should this matter to logical positivists?
- According to Putnam, why is it significant that lots of terms that refer to "unobservables" are not theoretical terms and how does he reach this conclusion?
- According to Putnam, why is it significant that there are theoretical terms that refer to observables?
