Since the descriptions ordinarily associated with names. He is best known for reintroducing modal concepts, such as necessity and possibility, with his landmark works naming and necessity and identity and necessity, as well as his popularizing gottfried leibnizs notion of possible worlds as a way of analyzing the concepts of a priori, analytic, and necessary. The three lectures that form naming and necessity constitute an attack on descriptivist theory of names. The papers collected in this volume descend from that conference. If a name refers to an object o, it refers to o with respect to every possible world in which o exists. Originally i had intended to revise or augment naming and necessity extensively. In his famous work naming and necessity, saul kripke presents an argument against the materialists identity theory of mind. Russell looks to break everything down into more atomistic pieces in a search for truth. The prospect of a posteriori necessity also makes the distinction between a prioricity, analyticity, and necessity harder to discern because they were previously thought to be largely separated from the a posteriori, the synthetic, and the contingent. This study guide for naming and necessity by saul kripke looks at the key concepts and main ideas to help you get a deeper understanding of naming and necessity. For example, we take it to be the case that it is contingent that the first postmaster of the united states is identical with the inventor of bifocals i. In 1999, the university of haifa awarded saul kripke an honorary degree and hosted a conference in his honour. Giving the semantic content this is one facet of a fregean sense. Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free uk delivery on orders over.
A descriptivist in disguise wesley hansen in his work, naming and necessity saul kripke argues against many previous philosophers, such as russell, who have offered a descriptivist account of language. Synthese library monographs on epistemology, logic, methodology, philosophy of science, sociology of science and of knowledge, and on the mathematical methods of social and behavioral sciences, vol 40. Kripkes naming and necessity university of notre dame. He is a writer and producer, known for supernatural 2005, the boys 2019 and boogeyman 2005. We can then ask whether certain things might have been true of these objects 273. Master of modal language, and greatest living philosopher, including kripke semantics, naming and necessity, kripkenstein and more. Kripke began with a consideration of the fregean analysis of the meaning of a sentence as a function of the referents of its parts. According to descriptivist theories, proper names either are synonymous with descriptions, or have their reference determined. Eric kripke was born on april 24, 1974 in toledo, ohio, usa.
It redirected philosophical attention to neglected questions of natural and metaphysical necessity and to the connections between these and theories of reference, in particular of naming, and of identity. The notion of rigid designation figures prominently in saul kripke s naming and necessity. Saul kripke, american logician and philosopher who was one of the most powerful and influential thinkers in contemporary analytic anglophone philosophy. Applied to our news story about homer, the device of rigid desig nators guarantees that if we are referring at all by the name homer. Saul kripke argues throughout naming and necessity that his picture of how names refer handles natural language better than alternative theories. Naming and necessity lecture 1 summary course hero.
Ever since the publication of its original version, naming and necessity has had great and increasing influence. Time and development in kripkes naming and necessity. Time and development in kripke s naming and necessity. Kripkes naming and necessity some theses of naming and necessity 1. A term is a rigid designator when it designates the same object in every possible world in which that object exists. Kripke if there is such a thing as essential reading in metaphysics or in philosophy of language, this is it. If one expression is a rigid and another is not, they cannot mean the same.
We will use the term name so that it does not include definite descriptions of that sort, but only those things which in ordinary language would be called proper names. Click download or read online button to get saul kripke book now. He acknowledges that some of the views he articulates about. Kripke attributes variants of descriptivist theories to frege, russell, wittgenstein and john searle, among others. Kripke, 9780631128014, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. It includes one paper by kripke himself and each of the other papers touches, in some way, on kripkes work. He is a distinguished professor of philosophy at the graduate center of the city university of new york and emeritus professor at princeton university. This study guide for saul kripke s naming and necessity offers summary and analysis on themes, symbols, and other literary devices found in the text. In the later naming and necessity, kripke suggested that the principle could be derived directly, assuming what he called rigid designation. Naming and necessity is a book with the transcript of three lectures, given by the philosopher saul kripke, at princeton university in, in which he dealt with the debates. Kripke claims that i and ii are selfevident theses of philosophical logic independent of natural language.
Lecture notes introduction to philosophy of language linguistics. Naming and necessity has had a great and increasing influence. If there is such a thing as essential reading in metaphysics or in philosophy of language, this is it. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Kripke showed that one could be coarse about how language works while being delicate and polished in the theory that spells out the details. Richard rorty kripke versus kant lrb 4 september 1980. Kripke s naming and necessity, nagels view from nowhere, quines on what there is,other suggs for accessible texts by analytical phils. Download our ma in art history, curatorship and renaissance culture brochure ma in cultural, intellectual and visual history download our.
Furthermore, because of the use of tools involving reference and necessity in analytic philosophy today, our views on these topics really have wderanging. Read routledge philosophy guidebook to kripke and naming and necessity by harold noonan available from rakuten kobo. It redirected philosophical attention to neglected questions of natural and metaphysical necessity and to the connections between these and theories of reference, in particular of. That identity statements between what we call names in actual language are necessary. I hope that some people see some connection between the two topics in the title. Causation and computation work in this trend was naming and necessity 1980, by the american philosopher saul kripke born 1940, based on lectures he delivered in 1970. Starting from this simple problem, saul kripke s 1980 book naming and necessity covers the history of theories of naming before proposing a radically new.
This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. There has been much confusion about rigidity, even among professional philosophers. In this lecture, professor saul kripke takes the opportunity to revisit some of the more controversial points in his seminal work naming and. This seminal work, to which todays thriving essentialist metaphysics largely owes its impetus, is here reissued in a newly corrected form with a new preface. Yet one of the most famous and rewarding works of said analytic philosophy, naming and necessity, is a breezy romp through many of the most major problems of linguistic and metaphysical analysis. Naming and necessity is a 1980 book with the transcript of three lectures, given by the philosopher saul kripke, at princeton university in 1970, in which he dealt with the debates of proper names in the philosophy of language.
Lets take the example of the meterstick that kripke brings up. Christopher hughes offers a careful exposition and critical analysis of kripke s central ideas about names, necessity, and identity, and in the process makes significant contributions to continuing debates about such topics as modality, essence, natural kinds, and. While the mainstream theories of reference inspired by frege and russel are more sophisticated, they have numerous counterintuitive consequences. Kripke goes on to discuss two ways of generating true essentialist claims. A sense is supposed to be that which is grasped by the mind, a meaning in some nontechnical sense. Ive been having some difficulty understanding how kripke in naming and necessity dissolves or removes the concept of essentialism from identification of entities across possible worlds.
Saul kripke, identity and necessity driving question. I hope this brief note helps to eliminate some of that confusion. The pragmatists like dewey though they came before russel, if i am not mistaken. Find a summary of this and each chapter of naming and necessity. January 20, 19701 i hope that some people see some connection between the two topics in the title. Furthermore, because of the use of tools involving reference and. Kripke on the descriptive theory of names, lecture i of naming and necessity. Introduction saul kripke has made fundamental contributions to a variety of areas of logic, and his name is attached to a corresponding variety of objects and results. Routledge philosophy guidebook to kripke and naming and necessity. But while the better picture that kripke provided was very interesting and stimulating, it was little more than a sketch of a theory that needed much work and refinement. Kripke s life and the background to his philosophy. Kripke on naming and necessity university of toronto. It would be impossible, in this space, to exhibit just how naming and necessity did this. Kripke s naming and necessity some theses of naming and necessity 1.
Naming and necessity by saul kripke was first published in book form in 1980 and consists mainly of three lectures given at princeton university, an overview, an essay on the problem of names, and. Just as kripke argued that names are not synonymous with the descriptions associated with them, so he argues that natural kind terms are not synonymous with the descriptions associated with them. Although much of his work remains unpublished, several major essays have now appeared in print, most recently in his longawaited collection. Saul kripke is one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. He has a point he cites a theory, maybe used by some philosophers of historians about certain individuals who are predestined for greatness straight from birth. His early masterpiece, naming and necessity, reversed the pattern of two centuries of philosophizing about the necessary and the contingent. Like freddie mercury if, for example, aristotle were to be predestined in such a way, rules 5 and 6 would. Kripkes naming and necessity, nagels view from nowhere. He made important contributions to several areas of philosophy, including logic, metaphysics, philosophy of language, epistemology, and philosophy of mind. Citeseerx document details isaac councill, lee giles, pradeep teregowda.
Naming and necessity is among the most important philosophical works of the 20th century. This is the point of the discussion of kants idea that. The routledge philosophy guidebook to kripke and naming and necessity is an ideal starting point for anyone coming kripke s work for the first time. Starting from this simple problem, saul kripke s 1980 book naming and necessity covers the history of theories of naming before proposing a radically new theory. Naming and necessity lecture 2 summary course hero. Arial times new roman symbol default design saul kripke, identity and necessity an apparent paradox the paradox with proper names identities in science rigid vs. Main ideas and takeaways about saul kripke s naming and necessity. Considerable time has elapsed, and i have come to realize that any extensive revision or expansion would delay the appearance of a separate, less expensive edition of naming and necessity indefinitely. Kripke naming and necessity problems associated with simple descriptivism the most common way out of this difficulty is to say really it is not a. If one expression is a rigid and another is not, they cannot mean the same thing. An explanation of the life and works of saul kripke, the prodigy logician, master of modal language, and greatest living philosopher, including kripke semantics, naming and necessity, kripkenstein. Kripke runs through his famous intuitive argumentsalso in naming and necessity for his views on kind terms. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app.
Naming with necessity part of the dissertation portfolio modality, names and descriptions. Pdf naming and necessity download full pdf book download. Routledge philosophy guidebook to kripke and naming and. Kripke naming and necessity problems associated with simple descriptivism the most common way out of this difficulty is to say really it is not a weakness in ordinary language that we cant substitute a particular description for the name. Saul kripke notes the importance of the concept of necessity in contemporary analytic philosophy. Christopher hughes offers a careful exposition and critical analysis of kripke s central ideas about names, necessity, and identity, and in the process makes significant contributions to continuing debates about such topics as modality, essence, natural kinds. If not, anyway, such connections will be developed in the course of these talks. Chapter summary for saul kripkes naming and necessity, lecture 2 summary. Names, necessity, and identity, by christopher hughes. Saul kripke, in full saul aaron kripke, born november, 1940, bay shore, long island, new york, u. When a name s referent is fixed by the original act of naming, it becomes a rigid designator. The transcript was brought out originally in 1972 in semantics of natural language, edited by donald davidson and gilbert harman. Essentiality of origins 111114 kripke suggests as a plausible essentialist principle the view that if a material object has its origin in a certain bit of matter, then it could not have existed without having that origin.
Naming and necessity was mentioned as one of the eminent texts for this practice. Saul kripke is a philosopher and logician and emeritus professor at princeton. It redirected philosophical attention to neglected questions of natural and metaphysical necessity and to the connections between these and theories of naming, and of identity. This seminal work, to which todays thriving essentialist metaphysics largely owes its impetus, is here reissued in a newly corrected form with a new. Christopher hughes offers a careful exposition and critical analysis of kripke s central ideas about names, necessity, and identity. Saul kripke, in a series of classic writings of the 1960s and 1970s, changed the face of metaphysics and philosophy of language.
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