Meaning and our mental life a comment

Eddy M. Zemach

pp. 33-37

in: Edna Ullmann-Margalit (ed), The kaleidoscope of science I, Berlin, Springer, 1986

Abstract

It is altogether impossible for me to comment on all, or even on most, of the issues brought into focus and woven together so masterfully by Professor Putnam. Having been a close Putnam-watcher for quite a few years, I cannot cease to marvel at how Putnam takes, say, a mere technical point in logic, or a seemingly simple story (such as the story of the two Ruritanian children), and uses it like a magician's wand to invoke a whole host of fundamental problems in philosophy. Then, by twirling his wand — that plain example he uses — he forces those philosophical mammoths to change, transforming them in front of our gaping eyes. I think we have all learned a lot today. Before I say anything else, I would like, then, to thank Professor Putnam for the rare intellectual experience he gave us.