Naming and Necessity

work by Kripke

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July 1, 2026

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In Naming and Necessity (1980), Saul Kripke challenged traditional philosophical views on necessity and possibility. He argued that necessity is a metaphysical concept, distinct from how we gain knowledge (epistemology) or the meaning of words (linguistics).12

Kripke proposed that some truths are necessarily true but can only be known through experience (a posteriori). For example, the statement "Water is H₂O" is necessarily true, meaning it couldn't be otherwise, but we learned this through scientific discovery, not just by understanding the words. This overturned the idea, stemming from Immanuel Kant, that all necessary truths are knowable independently of experience (a priori).123

Kripke also introduced a causal theory of reference, suggesting that the meaning of a proper name is passed down through a historical chain of uses, challenging theories that rely solely on descriptions.1

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Saul Kripke
Naming and Necessity
Kripke’s most important philosophical publication, Naming and Necessity (1980), based on transcripts of three lectures he delivered at Princeton in 1970, changed the course of analytic philosophy. It provided the first cogent account of necessity and possibility as metaphysical concepts, and it…
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Kripke’s most important philosophical publication, Naming and Necessity (1980), based on transcripts of three lectures he delivered at Princeton in 1970, changed the course of analytic philosophy. It provided the first cogent account of necessity and possibility as metaphysical concepts, and it…
Read More

philosophy of language
Causation and computation
…work in this trend was Naming and Necessity (1980), by the American philosopher Saul Kripke (born 1940), based on lectures he delivered in 1970. Kripke began with a consideration of the Fregean analysis of the meaning of a sentence as a function of the referents of its parts. Kripke repudiated…
Read More
…work in this trend was Naming and Necessity (1980), by the American philosopher Saul Kripke (born 1940), based on lectures he delivered in 1970. Kripke began with a consideration of the Fregean analysis of the meaning of a sentence as a function of the referents of its parts. Kripke repudiated…
Read More

$optical illusion: refraction of light$
epistemology
Necessary a posteriori propositions
In one such study, Naming and Necessity (1972), the American philosopher Saul Kripke argued that, contrary to traditional assumptions, not all necessary propositions are known a priori; some are knowable only a posteriori. According to Kripke, the view that all necessary propositions are a priori relies on a conflation…
Read More
In one such study, Naming and Necessity (1972), the American philosopher Saul Kripke argued that, contrary to traditional assumptions, not all necessary propositions are known a priori; some are knowable only a posteriori. According to Kripke, the view that all necessary propositions are a priori relies on a conflation…
Read More