Current Position: Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Wellesley College, Massachusetts

Degrees: BS in Chemistry, University of California at Los Angeles, 1954.  PhD in Philosophy, University of California at Los Angeles, 1962

Curriculum Vitae

Bibliography

CURRICULUM VITAE

Dr. Ruth Anna Putnam
Professor Emerita of Philosophy
Department of Philosophy
Founders 322
Wellesley College
Wellesley, MA  02181

1957-1959     University of California at Los Angeles, Acting Instructor in Philosophy
1959-1962     University of Oregon, Acting Assistant Professor in Philosophy
1963- 1998    Wellesley College, Lecturer-Professor in Philosophy
1998-present  Wellesley College, Professor Emerita

1979-82, 1991-93   Chair, Department of Philosophy

1986, 1989   Director of NEH Summer Seminar for Secondary School Teachers. Title: Emerson and William James: Representative Americans

1977   Program Committee, American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division.

Fellowships

Fall 1990: Sabbatical Leave supported in part by Wellesley College
Fall 1990: ACLS Fellowship
Spring 1987: Sabbatical Leave supported by Wellesley College
1982-83: NEH Fellowship for College Teachers No. FB 212 9582
1982-83: Sabbatical Leave supported in part by Wellesley College
1975-76: Fellow, Radcliffe Institute
1975-76: Sabbatical Leave supported by Wellesley College
1968-69: Early Leave supported by Wellesley College

The Interpretation of Theoretical Statements. PhD Dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles, 1962.

"Review of Marx Wartofsky (ed.) Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science." The Philosophical Forum 21 (1963): 104-110.

"On Empirical Knowledge." Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 4, eds. R. Cohen and M. Wartofsky (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1969), pp. 379-384.

"Seeing and Observing." Mind 78.4 (October 1969): 493-500.

"Rights of Persons and the Liberal Tradition." Social Ends and Political Means, ed. Ted Honderich (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1976), pp. 90-110.

"Sympathy." Philosophia (Israel) 8 (1979): 797-800.

"Remarks on Wittgenstein's Lecture on Ethics." Sprache, Logik und Philosophie: Akten des vierten internationalen Wittgenstein Symposiums / Language, Logic and Philosophy: Proceedings of the Fourth International Wittgenstein Symposium, eds. Rudolf Haller and Wolfgang Grassl (Vienna: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1980), pp. 309-312.

Review of Sandra Harding (ed.) Can Theories be Refuted?" Philosophia (Israel) 13 (1983): 165-168.

"Creating Facts and Values." Philosophy 60 (April 1985): 187-204.

"Poets, Scientists and Critics." New Literary History 17.1 (Autumn 1985): 17-21.

"Weaving Seamless Webs." Philosophy 62 (April 1987): 207-220.

"Knowing What Somebody Did." Berichte des 11. Internationalen Wittgenstein-Symposiums: Neuere Entwicklungen in der Erkenntnis- und Wissenschaftstheorie / Eleventh International Wittgenstein Congress: Recent Developments in Epistemology and Philosophy of Science, eds. Paul Weingartner and Gerhard Schurz (Vienna: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky 1987), pp. 232-237.

"Reciprocity and Virtue Ethics." Review of Lawrence Becker, Reciprocity. Ethics 98 (January 1988): 379-389.

"Understanding Lincoln." American Philosophical Quarterly 25 (July 1988): 261-268.

"Doing What One Ought to Do." Meaning and Method: Essays in Honor of Hilary Putnam, ed. George Boolos (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp. 279-293.

"Epistemology as Hypothesis." With Hilary Putnam. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 26.4 (Fall 1990): 407-433. Reprinted as "Dewey's Logic: Epistemology as Hypothesis" in Hilary Putnam, Words and Life (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1994), pp. 198-220.

"Justice in Context." Southern California Law Review 63.6 (September 1990): 1797-1810.

"The Moral Life of a Pragmatist." Identity, Character, and Morality, eds. Owen Flanagan and Amelie Rorty (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1990), pp. 67-89.

"William James's Ideas." With Hilary Putnam. Raritan 8.3 (Winter 1989): 27-44. Reprinted in Hilary Putnam, Realism with a Human Face (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990), pp. 217-231.

"Must We Mean What We Do?" S'vara: A Journal of Philosophy, Law, and Judaism 2.2 (Winter 1991): 52-60.

"Imágenes Morales e Imaginación Moral." Diánoia: Anuario de Filosofia 38 (1992): 187-202.

"Pragmatism." Encyclopedia of Ethics, eds. Lawrence Becker and Charlotte Becker (New York: Garland, 1992), pp. ??.

"William James." Encyclopedia of Ethics, eds. Lawrence Becker and Charlotte Becker (New York: Garland, 1992), pp. ??.

"William James and Our Moral Lives." Frontiers in American Philosophy, vol. 1, eds. Robert Burch and Herman Saatkamp, Jr. (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1992), pp. ??.

"Commentary on Michael Walzer: Objectivity and Social Meaning." The Quality of Life, eds. Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), pp. 178-184.

"Education for Democracy." With Hilary Putnam. Educational Theory 43.4 (Fall 1993): 361-376. Reprinted in Hilary Putnam, Words and Life (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1994), pp. 221-241.

"Friendship." Reading Ruth: Contemporary Women Reclaim a Sacred Story, eds. Judith Kates and Gail  Reimer (New York: Ballantine Books, 1994), pp. ??.

"Review of Therese Dykeman (ed.) American Women Philosophers, 1650-1930: Six Exemplary Thinkers." Philosophical Quarterly 44 (July 1994): 395-397.

"Dewey, John." A Companion to Metaphysics, eds. Jaegwon Kim and Ernest Sosa (Oxford: Blackwell, 1995), pp. ??.

"Review of Ignas Skrupskelis and Elizabeth Berkeley (eds.) The Correspondence of William James, vol. 3." Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 31.3 (Summer 1995): 670-676.

"Why Not a Feminist Theory of Justice?" in Women, Culture and Development, eds. Martha Nussbaum and Jonathan Glover (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), pp. 298-331. Translated as "Warum keine feministische Theorie der Gerechtigkeit?" Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophy 48.2 (2000): 171-206. Translated as "Pourquoi pas une théorie féministe de la justice?" in Repenser le politique: L'apport du feminisme du feminisme, ed. Francoise Collin et Pénélope Deutscher (Paris: Campagne Premiere, 2004), pp. 71-110.

"What the Spilled Beans Tell Us." With Hilary Putnam. The Times Literary Supplement no. 4864 (21 June 1996): 14-15.

"Pragmatisme: La philosophie morale des philosophes pragmatistes." Dictionnaire d'éthique et de philosophie morale, ed. Monique Canto-Sperber (Paris: Presses Universitaire de France, 1996), pp. ??.

"The Quarrel between Poetry and Philosophy." With Hilary Putnam. Overheard in Seville: Bulletin of the Santayana Society 14 (Fall 1996): 1-14.

The Cambridge Companion to William James. Edited by Ruth Anna Putnam. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

"Introduction." The Cambridge Companion to William James, ed. Ruth Anna Putnam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp. 1-10.

"Some of Life's Ideals." The Cambridge Companion to William James, ed. Ruth Anna Putnam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp. 282-299.

"The Loneliness of Koheleth." Loneliness, ed. Leroy S. Rouner (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1998), pp. 143-159. Translated as "Die Einsamkeit Kohelets" Deutsche Zeitchrift für Philosophie 50.5 (2002): 749-762.

"The Moral Impulse." The Revival of Pragmatism, ed. Morris Dickstein (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1998), pp. 62-71.

"Nem uma Besta, nem um Deus." Disputatio: Revista Internacional de Filosofia Analitica Volume Suplementar 1 (November 1998): 79-100.

"Perceiving Facts and Values." Philosophy 73 (January 1998): 5-19.

"Perception from Moore to Austin." The Story of Analytic Philosophy, eds. Anat Biletzki and Anat Matar (London and New York: Routledge, 1998), pp. 182-196.

"The Real William James: Response to Robert Meyers." With Hilary Putnam. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 34.2 (Spring 1998): 51-66.

"Review of James Hoopes, Community Denied: The Wrong Turn of Pragmatic Liberalism." New England Quarterly 72.1 (March 1999): 149-151.

"Democracy without Foundations." Review of Richard Rorty, Truth and Progress. Ethics 110.2 (January 2000): 388-404.

"Neither a Beast Nor a God." Social Theory and Practice 26.2 (Summer 2000): 177-200.

"Il Pragmatismo di William James." Discipline Filosofiche 10.2 (2000): 273-294.

"Die Probleme des Menschseins: Eine Antwort auf Dewey." Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophy 49.1 (2001): 107-116.

"Review of Christopher Hookway, Truth, Rationality and Pragmatism: Themes from Peirce." British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 52.3 (2001): 641-645.

"Traktowanie pragmatyzmu powaznie." (Taking Pragmatism Seriously) Pragmatyzm I Filozofia Hilarego Putnama, ed. Urszuli M. Zeglen (Torun, Poland: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Mikolaja Kopernika, 2001), pp. ??. Also published as "Taking Pragmatism Seriously" in Hilary Putnam: Pragmatism and Realism, eds. James Conant and Urszula Zeglen (London and New York: Routledge, 2002), pp. 7-11.

"Memory." Mehuyavut Yehudit mithadeshet: ‘al ‘olamo ve-haguto shel David Hartman (Renewing Jewish Commitment: The Work and Thought of David Hartman) (Jerusalem: Mekhon Shalom Hartman, be-shituf ‘im Hotsa’at ha-Kibuts ha-me’uhad, 2001), pp. ??. Reprinted in Judaism and Modernity: The Religious Philosophy of David Hartman, ed. Jonathan Malino (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2004), pp. 198-209.

"Moralische Objectivität und Putnam's Philosophy." Hilary Putnam und die Tradition des americanishen Pragmatismus, eds. Marie-Luise Raters and Marcus Willaschek (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2002), pp. 225-244.

"Review of Arthur Waskow, ed., Torah of the Earth: 4000 years of Ecology in Jewish Thought." Conservative Judaism 54.2 (Winter 2002): 94-95.

"Varieties of Experience and Pluralities of Perspectives" in William James and The Varieties of Religious Experience, ed. Jeremy Carrette (London and New York: Routledge, 2005), pp. 149-160.

"Review of Morton White, A Philosophy of Culture: The Scope of Holistic Pragmatism," Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 72.1 (January 2006): 238-241.

"Why Not Moral Realism?" International Journal of Philosophical Studies 16.1 (February 2008): 17-29.

Conference Presentations

"Varieties of Experience and Pluralities of Perspectives." Centenary Conference in Edinburgh, 5-8 July 2002.

"Moral Objectivity and Putnam’s Philosophy." Conference: Hilary Putnam and the Pragmatist Tradition, Munster, Germany, 14-18 June 2000.

"Democracy as a Way of Life: Pragmatism and Democracy." Conference: Democracy and Education in the 21st Century: John Dewey’s Challenge and Influence, Cosenza, Italy, 10-13 April 2000.

"Some Comparisons of Pragmatism and Logical Empiricism." International Symposium on the Occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Center for North American Studies (ZENAF), 21-22 January 2000 in Frankfurt, Germany.

"Perception: From Moore to Austin." Conference on the History of Analytic Philosophy, Tel-Aviv, Israel, January 1996.

"Perceiving Facts and Values." Conference on American Philosophy at Cerisy-LaSalle, Summer 1995.

"A Second Look at Universality: A Response to Professor Apel." Sixth East-West Philosophers' Conference, University of Hawaii, August 1989.

"Must We Mean What We Do?" Conference on Jewish Law, Jewish History and Critical  Legal Studies, Stanford, California, February 1989.

"Objectivity Reconsidered." Conference on Quality of Life, World Institute for Development Economics Research,  Helsinki, July 1988.

"William James and Our Moral Lives." Frontiers in American Philosophy Conference, Texas A&M University, June 1988.

"Agency in Suicide." Second International Congress on Psychiatry, Law and Ethics, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 1986.

"Some Thoughts about Health Care." V Simposio Internacional de Filosofia, Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, 1984.

"The Unity of Facts and Values." III Simposio Internacional de Filosofia, Universidad Nacional de Mexico, 1982.

"Basic Rights and Civic Friendship." Tenth Interamerican Congress of Philosophy, Tallahassee, Florida. 1981.

"The Importance of Friendship." Greater Boston Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy, 1981.

"Criteria for the Ethical Allocation of Limited Health Resources." Conference on Ethical Decision Making in Health and Medical Care Management, College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, 1978.

"On the Reality of Fields." American Philosophical Association, Western Division, 1970.

"Seeing and Observing." American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, 1967.

"The Grain of Truth in the Emotive Theory." American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, 1965.