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PHILOSOPHY PROFILE

Saul Kripke

1970 and 1980

START WITH THE PUZZLE

Could the same name still refer to the object if that object did not satisfy the description?

Evidence-backed moments
6
Timeline events
2
Verified places
2

This is a guided intellectual story assembled from verified claims, works, and events in which this thinker actually appears. It avoids filling gaps with a generic encyclopedia biography.

Why this thinker is worth following

Story 1How do words point to the world?

Kripke — Names and descriptions under counterfactual conditions

The question that opens it

Could the same name still refer to the object if that object did not satisfy the description?

Follow the argument, not just the name
  1. 1

    The core of Naming and Necessity is associated with the 1970 Princeton lectures and was followed by a 1972 transcript/article and the 1980 book.

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    • Vale Saul Kripke, 1940–2022

      Princeton University Department of Philosophy

      Locator: 1970 Princeton Three Lecture Series

      Open source

    • Naming and Necessity

      Saul A. Kripke · 1980 · Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1980; WorldCat record OCLC 5726909

      Locator: Harvard University Press, 1980 edition metadata

      Open source

    • Reference

      Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

      Locator: Bibliography: Kripke 1972 and 1980

      Open source
  2. 2

    A rigid designator is explained as an expression that designates the same object, and no other object, across possible situations in which that object exists.

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    This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.

    • Rigid Designators

      Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

      Locator: Sections 1.1–1.2

      Open source
  3. 3

    In a standard Kripkean comparison, the proper names Hesperus and Phosphorus are rigid, whereas an ordinary description may be satisfied by different objects in different situations.

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    This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.

    • Rigid Designators

      Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

      Locator: Section 1.1

      Open source
  4. 4

    An identity between two rigid names can be necessary if true, even though learning that identity may require empirical discovery.

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    This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.

    • Rigid Designators

      Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

      Locator: Sections 1.1 and 3.1

      Open source
  5. 5

    A description may be used to fix a reference initially without being synonymous with the name.

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    This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.

    • Naming and Necessity

      Saul A. Kripke · 1980 · Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1980; WorldCat record OCLC 5726909

      Locator: Pages 54–56

      Open source

    • Rigid Designators

      Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

      Locator: Section 2.2.2

      Open source
  6. 6

    Cases in which a speaker can ask about a person using a transmitted name without knowing a uniquely identifying description are used against descriptivism.

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    This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.

    • Reference

      Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

      Locator: Section 2.1

      Open source
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Decisive moments in time

  1. 1970

    The core lectures are delivered in Princeton’s Three Lecture Series.

    Princeton · Lecture

    PerspectiveOpen in question

  2. 1980

    The book Naming and Necessity is published by Harvard University Press.

    Cambridge, MA · Publication

    PerspectiveOpen in question

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