Kripke's Naming and Necessity

A. Course Description

S. Kripke
Saul Kripke
Kripke's Naming and Necessity, which is based on three lectures Kripke held at Princeton University in 1970, has become one of the most influential and controversial texts in analytic philosophy of the second half of 20th Century. In these talks, Kripke introduces the notion of rigid designators, , i.e. terms that denote the same object in all possible worlds if it exists in the respective world, argues pervasively against Fregean theories of reference and in favor of what has later become known as The New Theory of Reference, and discusses natural kind terms. The text does not only concern the philosophy of language, but also addresses a rich variety of epistemological and metaphysical topics ranging from the nature of modality to the the Mind-Body problem. Practically all of Kripke's original arguments and theses are subject to ongoing debate in various branches of philosophy.

B. Course Overview

Topic Date Readings
Introduction 2005-10-04 Naming and Necessity, Lecture I
Kripke's Main Arguments 2005-10-06 Naming and Necessity, Lecture II
Natural Kind Terms 2005-10-11 Naming and Necessity, Lecture III
Descriptivist Objections 2005-10-13 Preface to second edition of Naming and Necessity and further literature
Soames' Arguments 2005-10-18 Chapter 1-3 of Soames' Beyond Rigidity
Recent Developments 2005-10-20 to be announced

Note: There will be more literature that will be made available for copying until 5. September. Please check the page again later. ;-)

C. Literature

This book is highly recommended for purchase. Please note that we will read the second revised edition; any edition that has been published 1980 or later is suitable for the course, but not the first edition.