The Threefold Cord

by Hilary Putnam

What is the relationship between our perceptions and reality? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? These are questions with which philosophers have grappled for centuries, and they are topics of considerable contemporary debate as well. Hilary Putnam has approached the divisions between perception and reality and between mind and body with great creativity throughout his career. Now, in The Threefold Mind, Body, and World, he expounds upon these issues, elucidating both the strengths and weaknesses of current schools of thought. With his characteristic wit and acuity, Putnam offers refreshing solutions to some of philosophy's most vexing problems. Putnam first examines the problem of is objective truth possible? He acknowledges the deep impasse between empirical and idealist approaches to this question, critiquing them both, however, by highlighting the false assumption they share, that we cannot perceive the world directly. Drawing on the work of J. L. Austin and William James, Putnam develops a subtle and creative alternative, which he calls "natural realism." The second part of the book explores the mind-body is the mind independent of our interactions with the physical world? Again, Putnam critically assesses two sharply antithetical contemporary approaches and finds them both lacking. The Threefold Cord shows the entire mind-body debate to be miscast and draws on the later work of Wittgenstein, once more advancing original views on perception and thought and their relationship with both the body and the external world. Finally, Putnam takes up two related problems -- the role of causality in human behavior and whether or not thoughts and sensations have an "existence" all their own. With Putnam's lucid prose and insightful examples, The Threefold Cord loosens the Gordian knots into which philosophy has bound itself over the issue of epistemology.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Psychology, Metaphysics, Academic

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Hilary Whitehall Putnam was an American philosopher, mathematician, and computer scientist who was a central figure in analytic philosophy from the 1960s until his death, especially in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of science. He was known for his willingness to apply an equal degree of scrutiny to his own philosophical positions as to those of others, subjecting each position to rigorous analysis until he exposed its flaws. As a result, he acquired a reputation for frequently changing his own position. Putnam was Cogan University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University.

Reviews

[Alex Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although like other analytic philosophers, Putnam seeks to explain in plain language, there is still much in this book that would be a challenge to most any reader. Beyond the questions of mind and body that Putnam explores there is an emotional content to this book as well.

Putnam does thoroughly seek explanations for the relation between mind, body and world debunking and weeding out many of the assumptions that analytic philosophers have about the nature of mind and body, qualia, and so on. He shows us that ultimately such terms are for our convenience and as such, carry no consistency. Attempts to force consistency lead to awkward positions philosophically. We should take our examinations seriously but our conclusions with a grain of salt. If anything he draws closer to Bergson in the end of the book, seeing memory as an integral part of our world interaction. Ultimately each of the three cords are too entangled to be fully separated and considered in isolation.

While Putnam is pretty impressive with the depth of his reasoning, what struck me most was the undercurrent of feeling that ran through this book. Like other books of philosophy that are notoriously difficult, there is still a depth of feeling from the author. In this book, Putnam is measured but his enthusiasm and optimism are like that of a young boy seeing Disneyland for the first time, although his curiosity is more like that of a scientist entering an alien spacecraft for the first time.

[Pavlogreen]

Segund vez este año que leo el libro. He querio releerlo para ver cómo cambiaba mi experiencia y comprensión después de unos meses y sobre todo tras la lectura de otros libros y artículos en los que había visto alguna relación con este. No solo he entendido mejor las tesis básicas del libro, sino que siento que ahora les puedo sacar mucho más provecho filosófico. Tendré que seguir leyendo a Putnam y a sus autores de referencia para profundizar más en las cuestiones que aquí se tratan. ¡Démosle candela!

[Shane Wagoner · Rating 3 out of 5]

An innovative approach to the mind body problem that utilizes the insights and benefits of Wittgenstein without attempting to reduce the problem to a mere language game. Unfortunately, unnecessary tangents and jargon, as well as some significant oversimplifying regarding certain philosophical positions (see Fodor's review) make this book less grand than it may have otherwise been.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Putnam sides with J.L. Austin and John McDowell on many contemporary issues in philosophy of mind and language. He pieces together their ideas into a theory that the world does not come equipped with pre-structured metaphysical realities but that structure must be imposed on it by the human mind and its conceptual schemes. Our every day interactions with real world objects confirm the truth values of what we believe to exist. In other words, the world we live in provides sense to the intentional and rational functioning of the mind. A good read for any fans of Putnam's later work on direct realism and pragmatism.

[A YOGAM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilary Putnam, einer der einflussreichsten US-amerikanischen Philosophen des 20. Jahrhunderts, untersucht in diesem Spätwerk die Beziehung zwischen Wahrnehmung und Realität sowie zwischen Geist und Körper. Die Metapher der „dreifachen Kordel“ steht für die unauflösliche Verschränkung von Geist, Körper und Welt. Putnam entwickelt damit eine Position, die klassische Dualismen gezielt unterläuft und neu konfiguriert.
Er erneuert die Behandlung traditioneller Probleme, indem er gegen zeitgenössische reduktionistische Positionen (etwa bei Jaegwon Kim) argumentiert und stattdessen die menschlichen Fähigkeiten hervorhebt, mit der Realität in Kontakt zu treten. Der Geist erscheint dabei nicht als isolierte Entität, sondern als ensemblehafte Struktur von Fähigkeiten, die in praktische und erkenntnisbezogene Weltbezüge eingebettet sind. Putnam zielt damit auf eine Perspektive, in der Bedeutung und Erfahrung nicht voneinander getrennt werden können.
Das Werk trägt zur Auflösung klassischer philosophischer Paradoxien bei und zeigt, wie eine natürliche, aber nicht-reduktionistische Sicht auf den Geist unsere Stellung in der Welt erklären kann, ohne in Eliminativismus oder strikten Physikalismus zu verfallen.
Das Inhaltsverzeichnis spiegelt diese Zielsetzung wider: Der erste Teil „Sinn, Unsinn und die Sinne“ geht von Vorlesungen zum Realismus aus und diskutiert Autoren wie J. L. Austin. Der zweite Teil widmet sich unmittelbar dem Leib-Seele-Problem und hinterfragt die These, psychologische Zustände seien lediglich „interne Zustände“. Der dritte Teil enthält vertiefende „Postfaces“ zu technischen Fragen wie Kausalität sowie zur Problematik, ob Erscheinungen auf bloße „Qualia“ (subjektive Erlebnisinhalte) reduziert werden können.
Putnam zerbricht die isolierte Anatomie des Geistes und ersetzt sie durch die ‚dreifache Kordel‘, die Subjekt, Körper und Welt zu einer unauflöslichen Einheit verwebt, die jedem Reduktionismus entgegengesetzt ist und ihn systematisch unterläuft. Sein Werk ist ein Befreiungsschlag aus dem ‚Archipel der Qualia‘ (sinnliche Erlebnisgehalte), der zeigt, dass wir die Realität nicht durch eine interne Leinwand betrachten, sondern als handelnde Wesen bereits immer schon in sie eingelassen und in ihr verankert sind.

[Charity Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 stars for ideas, but 1 or 2 for readability. I had to skim some sections to get a feel for where he was going so I knew where it was important to focus. I recommend anyone wanting to do the same skipping first to one of the very final sections (p. 169 in my copy) called "the purposes of the account in this book". My quick take: mind is not an object/noun but a doing/verb (via John Dewey). Mind does not interface with reality like seeing an internal movie screen but rather the mind is the transactions of seeing, feeling, etc. Fascinating stuff to think about.

[Thomas Zwilling]

30th birthday present from a friend (shoutout to Joe). Putnam is generally a lucid writer, despite the inherit difficulty of the ideas, and he's working on issues closely related to stuff I know more about but from just a different enough approach to be intriguing. Giving strong consideration to becoming a #HilaryMan.

[Fernando Grumicker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilary Putnam é certamente um autor que sabe escrever conferências, mas também, possui uma profunda compreensão de teorias filosóficas e modos de refutações. Corda Tripla é uma dessas obras fundamentais da filosofia analitica

[Zedder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fodor's review of this book is right on.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book just linked too may good parts of various literature, Ecclesiasties, Grapes of Wrath, ... on and on.