ABSTRACT
In brief, liberal naturalism of a Putnamian variety is characterised by a realistic attitude both in metaphysics and toward the normative. I will try to clarify these two features. Within each stage Putnam displayed a specific interpretation of the concept of truth. Roughly, metaphysical realism combined with a correspondentist interpretation to the effect that there is a fixed relation between portions of reality and statements (whatever their content) that, when it is present, decrees the truth of a given statement. “Causes” can therefore very often be paraphrased as “explains”, so that “What is and what is not a ‘cause’ or an ‘explanation’ depends on background knowledge and our reason for asking the question”.
