Episode 128: Hilary Putnam on Linguistic Meaning
The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
Mark Linsenmayer
4.6 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 30 November 2015
⏱️ 123 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On "The Meaning of Meaning" (1975). If meaning is not a matter of having a description in your head, then what is it? Hilary Putnam reformulates Kripke's insight (from #126) in terms of Twin Earths: Earthers with H20 and Twin Earthers with a substance that seems like water but is different have the same mental contents but are referring to different stuff with "water," so that word is speaker-relative in a certain way. With guest Matt Teichman.
End song: "In the Boatyard" by Mark Lint & the Madison Lint Ensemble (2004, finished now).
Transcript
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| 0:23.0 | Now please enjoy the show. |
| 0:30.0 | We are listening to partially examined life, a philosophy podcast by some guys, |
| 0:36.0 | where at one point said on doing philosophy for living, |
| 0:38.3 | but then thought better a bit. |
| 0:40.3 | Our question for episode 128 is something like, |
| 0:42.5 | what's the relationship between language and the world? |
| 0:44.7 | And we read three articles by Hillary Putnam, |
| 0:47.0 | the meaning of meaning, is semantics possible, |
| 0:49.6 | and it ain't necessarily so, those are from the 60s and 70s. |
| 0:53.6 | You can join the discussion, get the text, and let more information at partiallyexaminalife.com. |
| 0:57.8 | This is Mark Linton Meyer in Madison, Wisconsin, |
| 1:00.5 | or its twin-Earth equivalent. |
| 1:04.0 | This is Wes Allen in Boston, Massachusetts. |
| 1:06.5 | This is Dylan Casey in Middleton, Wisconsin. |
... |
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