Metaphorical Truth and Neopragmatic Realism of Hilary Putnam

Abstract

Introduction. The problems of reference, truth, and realism are extremely important for contemporary philosophical discourse. Interesting interpretations of these problems have been given by such thinkers as Paul Ricoeur and Hilary Putnam. Instead of being originally representatives of different philosophical traditions, Ricoeur and Putnam came to similar conclusions on a number of the above issues, which allows us to speak of the possible prospect of a fruitful philosophical synthesis of the two authors' positions. The aim of this paper is to justify the theoretical possibility of such a synthesis, namely to show how the different elements of Putnam's theory can be improved by using Ricoeur's approach, which is outlined in his concept of metaphorical truth. Despite the obvious proximity of the two authors, there are currently no works where Ricoeur's conception of metaphorical truth was compared with Putnam's philosophy.Methodology and sources. To meet this challenge, we have resorted to an examination of the author's primary sources, which reveal the methodology of both philosophers. Special relevance of the article is connected with the unusual perspective of considering the problems that are important for the philosophy of late 20th-early 21st century. These are problems that related to the comprehension of our thinking, the role of language in creating a picture of the world and the resulting possibility of building a special kind of ontology.Results and discussion. The study revealed many overlaps in the authors' consideration of the concept of truth, the problem of realism, and the theory of reference, as well as in the way that both philosophers define the relationship between language and reality. The most similarities were found in the relationship between Ricoeur's concept of metaphorical truth and Putnam's philosophy of inner realism.Conclusion. Thus, we can conclude that the philosophical approaches of both thinkers share a great deal of intuition about the direction in which research of truth and referential theory and the problem of realism that is one of the most fundamental problems of philosophy throughout its history can be developed.