Naming and Necessity

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 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.