Preface
Lecture I: October 30th, 1973
Lecture II: November 6th, 1973
Lecture III: November 13, 1973
Lecture IV: November 20th, 1973
Lecture V: November 27th, 1973
Lecture VI: December 4th, 1973
References
Index
The author of pioneering results in modal logic while still in high
school, Saul A. Kripke continued to develop and extend these
insights in subsequent technical work. With "Identity and
Necessity" and Naming and Necessity -- two published lectures given
in the early 1970's that became classics almost upon publication --
his work turned towards the philosophical implications of his
formal investigations. Then and now, his work is marked by
formal rigor coupled with an engaging and accessible prose style.
Saul Kripke is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Computer
Science at The Graduate Center, CUNY, and Professor Emeritus at
Princeton University.
"The clarity, openness and, indeed, the honesty of his lectures is
impressive, as are the recurring flashes of laconic
humor"--Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
"Everything I think about goes back in some way to Kripke and his
ideas. For years, many of his legendary lectures have been
unavailable -- except in various preprints, difficult-to-read
Xeroxes, etc. Now, with the publication by Oxford University Press
of the first volume of his collected essays, Philosophical
Troubles, and the John Locke Lectures, this problem has been
partially remedied. His writing (even though it has often come in
part from spoken
lectures) is like no other -- equal parts perverse, funny,
brilliant, and surprising. I think of him as not so much an heir to
Russell and Wittgenstein, but to Poe and Twain."--Errol Morris,
Filmmaker
"For decades getting a copy of these lectures has been a holy grail
for philosophers working on fiction. It is a landmark event to have
them now publicly available, where they can get the critical
attention--and have the full impact--they deserve. This volume will
be essential reading for anyone working on fictional discourse,
nonexistence claims, the ontology of fiction, and related issues.
It will no doubt be a major influence on work in these areas
for
decades to come."--Amie Thomasson, Professor of Philosophy, Cooper
Fellow, and Parodi Senior Scholar in Philosophy of Art, Department
of Philosophy, University of Miami
"Saul Kripke's Naming and Necessity is widely acknowledged as one
of the most important works of twentieth century philosophy. In his
1973 Locke lectures he develops, extends, and elaborates the ideas
in Naming and Necessity in major ways, and replies to potential
objections. Rumours of the contents have circulated in the
philosophical community, as have samizdat copies of the transcript,
but in the absence of an authorized version most people
have been reluctant to address the views directly as Kripke's. The
publication of these lectures will be an event comparable in
salience and significance to the posthumous publication of some of
Wittgenstein's works,
both for the history of recent analytic philosophy and for
contemporary philosophy of language, philosophical logic, and
metaphysics, where Kripke's ideas are fundamental to much of what
is going on now."--Timothy Williamson, Wykeham Professor of Logic,
University of Oxford
"I will simply say that this is a book that you must read if you
want to know where Kripke's thinking took him when he took the
revolutionary views he developed in Naming and Necessity and
confronted the problem of empty names and nonexistence. Along the
way you will also learn an important part of the reason why the
debate about empty names has taken the direction it has over the
last forty or so years and why it continues to occupy centre stage
in
the philosophy of language." -- The Philosophical Quarterly
"Overall, Reference and Existence is a tour de force. It
anticipates many celebrated advances in metaphysics that took place
in the years since the lectures were delivered. Parts of it have
shaped the debate in the philosophy of language in the same period.
It is full of deep and original insights not yet fully appreciated
by those working in the field. And it completes the picture painted
in Naming and Necessity, one of the most
important philosophical works published in the twentieth century.
Forty years was a long time to wait. It was worth it!" --Notre Dame
Philosophical Reviews
"In the introduction to the book, Kripke modestly worries whether
publication of this material 'would still be of some interest' (p.
ix). 'Of course', this reviewer concludes. And this reviewer
stresses further that publication finally allows an extremely
important body of work to take its rightful place in the published
canon of analytic philosophy." -- Mind
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