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206737

(1986) The kaleidoscope of science I, Dordrecht, Springer.

Meaning and our mental life

Hilary Putnam

pp. 17-32

The thrust of this lecture will be negative: I shall argue that a certain way of thinking about meaning and about the nature of the mind is fundamentally misguided. It is always less exciting to hear someone criticize attempted solutions to a problem than to hear someone announce that he has found the solution. But I think we can learn something about the nature of meaning and, perhaps, something — even if it is somewhat nihilistic — about the nature of psychology by seeing why certain ideas about meaning and its place in the mind don't work.

Publication details

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-009-5496-0_3

Full citation:

Putnam, H. (1986)., Meaning and our mental life, in E. Ullmann-Margalit (ed.), The kaleidoscope of science I, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 17-32.

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