REASON, TRUTH AND HISTORY Hilary Putnam CAMBRIDGE ) UNIVERSITY PRESSPUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK _ http: //www.cup.cam.ac.uk 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA __ http: /Avww.cup.org 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia © Cambridge University Press 1981 This book is in copyright, Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1981 Reprinted 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998 Printed in the United States of America Typeset in Sabon A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data is available ISBN 0-521-23035-7 hardback ISBN 0-521-29776-1 paperback FOR RUTH ANNAOCNUNNAKHAWNH ‘© Contents Preface Brains in a vat A problem about reference Two philosophical perspectives Mind and body Two conceptions of rationality Fact and value Reason and history The impact of science on modern conceptions of rationality Values, facts and cognition Appendix Index ix 22 49 75 103 127 150 174 201 217 219