Putnam To Teach Philosophy Here, Will Quit M.I.T. for Harvard Post

Hilary Putnam, professor of Philosophy at M.I.T., will join the Harvard Faculty next year as a full professor.

For undergraduates, Putnam will give courses on "The Philosophy of Science" and "The Philosophy of the Mind"; for graduates he will teach "The Hierarchy Theory" and a seminar entitled "Existence."

Putnam said yesterday his course on "The Philosophy of Science" will be principally concerned with the foundations of science, especially of physics and mathematics. There is a possibility that the course may be limited to the examination of only one science, he continued, but in this case the science under discussion will vary from year to year.

Will Examine Robots

Putnam said that the course will present a valuable approach to philosophy for students concentrating in the field. He also said that it would aid aspiring scientists in an understanding of the origins of their study. Putnam's other undergraduate course. "The Philosophy of the Mind," will include an examination of the role of robots.

At M.I.T., Putnam is teaching the Philosophy of Mathematics; Philosophy: Classic and Contemporary; Set Theory; the Philosophy of Language, and an advanced topics seminar.

Putnam is presently writing a book Philosophy of Physics and Mathematics, scheduled for publication early next year. Putnam said that one of the decisive factors persuading him to transfer to Harvard has been his work with Willard Van Orman Quine, Edgar Pierce Professor of Philosophy, and Rogers G. Albritton, Professor of Philosophy.

After a year of graduate work at Harvard in 1942, Putnam received his Ph.D. in philosophy at U.C.L.A. in 1951. He has been a member of the M.I.T. faculty since 1961.

Putnam spent 1952 on a Rockefeller Fellowship studying the concept of logic He taught at Northwestern University as an instructor in Philosophy and served as assistant professor at Princeton from 1952 to 1960.