Kripke
Key Contemporary Thinkers (Series Nr. 1)
1. Edition November 2012
224 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Short Description
Saul Kripke has been a major influence on analytic philosophy and allied fields for a half-century and more. His early masterpiece, Naming and Necessity, reversed the pattern of two centuries of philosophizing about the necessary and the contingent. Although much of his work remains unpublished, several major essays have now appeared in print, most recently in his long-awaited collection Philosophical Troubles.
In this book Kripke's long-time colleague, the logician and philosopher John P. Burgess, offers a thorough and self-contained guide to all of Kripke's published books and his most important philosophical papers, old and new. It also provides an authoritative but non-technical account of Kripke's influential contributions to the study of modal logic and logical paradoxes. Although Kripke has been anything but a system-builder, Burgess expertly uncovers the connections between different parts of his oeuvre. Kripke is shown grappling, often in opposition to existing traditions, with mysteries surrounding the nature of necessity, rule-following, and the conscious mind, as well as with intricate and intriguing puzzles about identity, belief and self-reference. Clearly contextualizing the full range of Kripke's work, Burgess outlines, summarizes and surveys the issues raised by each of the philosopher's major publications.
Kripke will be essential reading for anyone interested in the work of one of analytic philosophy's greatest living thinkers.
Saul Kripke has been a major influence on analytic philosophy and allied fields for a half-century and more. His early masterpiece, Naming and Necessity, reversed the pattern of two centuries of philosophizing about the necessary and the contingent. Although much of his work remains unpublished, several major essays have now appeared in print, most recently in his long-awaited collection Philosophical Troubles.
In this book Kripke's long-time colleague, the logician and philosopher John P. Burgess, offers a thorough and self-contained guide to all of Kripke's published books and his most important philosophical papers, old and new. It also provides an authoritative but non-technical account of Kripke's influential contributions to the study of modal logic and logical paradoxes. Although Kripke has been anything but a system-builder, Burgess expertly uncovers the connections between different parts of his oeuvre. Kripke is shown grappling, often in opposition to existing traditions, with mysteries surrounding the nature of necessity, rule-following, and the conscious mind, as well as with intricate and intriguing puzzles about identity, belief and self-reference. Clearly contextualizing the full range of Kripke's work, Burgess outlines, summarizes and surveys the issues raised by each of the philosopher's major publications.
Kripke will be essential reading for anyone interested in the work of one of analytic philosophy's greatest living thinkers.
Acknowledgments x
Introduction 1
Background 2
Plan 7
1 Naming 11
Mill vs Frege 11
Error and Ignorance 19
Metalinguistic Theories 24
The Historical Chain Picture 28
Reference vs Attribution 33
2 Identity 37
Modal Logic and its Archenemy 37
Rigidity 45
The Necessity of Identity 50
Resistance 53
The Contingent a Priori 56
3 Necessity 59
Imagination and the Necessary a Posteriori 59
Natural Substances 64
Natural Kinds 69
Natural Phenomena and Natural Law 71
The Mystery of Modality 74
4 Belief 78
Direct Reference 78
Puzzling Pierre 83
Poles Apart 88
Counterfactual Attitudes 91
Empty Names 98
5 Rules 104
Conventionalism 105
Kripkenstein 108
The Analogy with Hume 110
The Skeptical Paradox 116
The Skeptical Solution 120
6 Mind 128
Physicalism 128
Functionalism 131
Against Functionalism 134
Against Physicalism 136
The Mystery of Mentality 140
Appendix A Models 143
The Logic of Modality 143
Kripke Models 147
The Curse of the Barcan Formulas 150
Controversy and Confusion 153
Appendix B Truth 157
Paradox and Pathology 158
Kripke vs Tarski 159
Fixed Points 165
The Intuitive Notion of Truth 170
Notes 175
Bibliography 204
Index 211
Stephen Neale, City University of New York
"Destined to become a classic, this is the best systematic overview of Saul Kripke's major contributions to philosophy. While each chapter and appendix provides an excellent introduction for those new to the material, old hands will relish Burgess's provocative takes on Kripkean views of belief, rule-following, and the mind. The explanation of the connection between Kripke's technical and philosophical work on truth and modality is masterful."
Scott Soames, University of Southern California
"Burgess provides a masterful introduction to Kripke's philosophy, but this volume is more than that; it is a first-rate piece of philosophy in its own right, as one would expect from one of the leading philosophers of mathematics in the world."
Mark Steiner, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
