Abstract

This paper focuses on the concepts of truth and perception in H. Putnam's last works, where, in relation to his «scientific realism», he proposes a conception of knowledge that considers us and our theories to be «answerable» to reality. The question of how the subject encounters things leads Putnam to reflect on perception and to reject the modern conception of sense data. He develops a position that sees knowledge as the result of a transaction between man and the environment; perceptual properties depend on the nature of external objects and on the activity of the subject - they are «transactional». According to Putnam we must also distinguish between sensations (which are not necessarily conceptualized, in contrast to McDowell's conception) and apperceptions, which are conceptualized and can justify judgements.