Naming and Necessity
by Saul A. Kripke
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NAMING AND NECESSITY "Much of the philosophical work of the last half-century could not have existed without Naming and Necessity. If you read this marvelous book, you'll find out why." David Chalmers, University Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science and co-director of the Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness, NYU "Naming and Necessity represents a turning-point in the development of modern philosophy. It showed how confusions in the philosophy of language had blocked progress in show more metaphysics, and it provided a model of systematic philosophical theorizing informed by innovations in logic." Timothy Williamson, Wykeham Professor of Logic Emeritus, Oxford University "Naming and Necessity is, arguably, the most important philosophical work in the last 100 years, with major implications for logic, metaphysics, epistemology, and our understanding of language. By showing that meaning, modality, and cognition aren't 'in the head,' but rather are constituted by our relations with people and things, Kripke reinvigorated philosophy by shining new light on reference, essence, necessity, and apriority." Scott Soames, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California "Kripke's Naming and Necessity was a game-changer in English-speaking philosophy, giving birth to a new era of debates in metaphysics, semantics, and epistemology. 50 years later, there is still much to be learned from the book, and this anniversary edition is just the thing to take us back to the text and see it with new eyes." Graham Priest, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, the CUNY Graduate Center, and Boyce Gibson Professor Emeritus, the University of Melbourne Since first appearing in 1972, Saul Kripke's Naming and Necessity has shaped and continues to shape debates in metaphysics, the philosophy of language, and adjacent areas. It overturned long-established views concerning the relationships between names and descriptions and a priority and necessity, and catalyzed today's thriving essentialist metaphysics. This landmark work is here reissued for its 50th anniversary with a new preface by the author revisiting its central themes, and a new foreword by Romina Birman, Director of the Saul Kripke Center. If there is such a thing as essential reading in analytic philosophy, this is it. show lessTags
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This is, and should be, a classic in philosophy. It is a rebirth of metaphysics, which was killed of by the logical positivists. It demonstrates the necessity and shows the metaphysical problems in a world that has undergone the revolution of modern science and gives solutions to them that other philosophers will not have thought of. It demystifices possible world semantics and introduces rigid designation, it also breaks the link between necessity and a prioricism that gradually had become unconceivable to question in the history of philosophy.
I believe, his metaphysical results are very relevant to philosophy of mind, which is my main interest. But his ability to question previous philosophical tradition in metaphysics is missing in show more his philosophy of mind (specifically a Cartesian outlook). This is not just a question of that I disagree with him as he seems oblivious to obvious counter-arguments. Philosophy of mind must have changed so radically between this book was published 45 years ago and when I first studied it 20 years ago. show less
I believe, his metaphysical results are very relevant to philosophy of mind, which is my main interest. But his ability to question previous philosophical tradition in metaphysics is missing in show more his philosophy of mind (specifically a Cartesian outlook). This is not just a question of that I disagree with him as he seems oblivious to obvious counter-arguments. Philosophy of mind must have changed so radically between this book was published 45 years ago and when I first studied it 20 years ago. show less
This series of lectures is best passed over by anyone not thoroughly interested in the picayune quibbles and splitting of imaginary hairs that dominates modern academic metaphysics. Although, if you happen to enjoy non-sequiturs, category errors, equivocation of terms, or a dogged determination to draw ridiculous conclusions from implausible premises, then you might find some mild amusement in this book - though, to be honest, it doesn't score quite as well in any of those categories as certain works by David Lewis.
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Born in Bay Shore, New York, the son of a rabbi (Myer Samuel) and a writer (Dorothy Karp), Saul Kripke demonstrated his genius to his startled parents when he was only 3 years old. He not only drew the logical consequences of ordinary beliefs, but also solved intricate problems in mathematics. As a child prodigy, he was presented by his father to show more distinguished mathematicians and philosophers, who were overwhelmed by his talents. His father introduced him at the age of 15 to a group of eminent mathematicians, headed by Haskell B. Curry. From his debut grew his first published article, "A Completeness Theorem in Modal Logic," which appeared in the Journal of Symbolic Logic. Kripke's boyhood genius did not flicker out in the 1960s, when he studied at Harvard, Oxford, Princeton and Rockefeller University or, more accurately, when he worked independently at these institutions and had occasional contact with his surroundings. His academic training was unique. He ascended directly to full professorships, without ever earning a doctorate. In fact, his highest academic degree was a B.A. from Harvard University, which he received in 1962. Kripkenever earned a doctorate, because no academician could be found to teach him. Consequently, the universities let him alone and admitted him to their faculties when he said he was ready. Slow to publish his lectures, Kripke nonetheless released a few articles, which he published exclusively in technical journals of philosophy and mathematics. So far his work has extended the boundaries of the most abstruse field of analytic philosophy, modal logic. He is esteemed for having invented the quantitative formulations of modality and for having opened up the ontological territory of possible worlds. At the age of 36, he was appointed James McCosh Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University. Kripke's awards include a Fulbright Fellowship (1962), Guggenheim Fellowship (1968), and a Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies (1981). His work, esoteric as it may seem to a public acquainted with such "social" philosophers as John Dewey or Jean-Paul Sartre, has created new fields in mathematical set theory and modal logic, which will generate Ph.D. theses for years to come. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Original publication date
- 1980
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- ISBNs
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- 7