Kripkean

Kripkean is an adjective referring to ideas, theories, and methods associated with Saul A. Kripke, a prominent American philosopher and logician. The term is used chiefly in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and modal logic to denote positions that bear Kripke's imprint.

In philosophy of language, Kripkean theories challenge descriptivist theories of reference by arguing that proper names function as rigid designators: a name designates the same object in all possible worlds, even if the surrounding description changes. This view helps explain how we can refer to individuals whose identities we learn by description after reference is established. Naming and Necessity, a landmark work, introduced the rigidity thesis and the distinction between necessary and contingent truths, including the claim that statements like “Water is H2O” are necessarily true while the discovery of water’s nature was empirical.

In modal logic, Kripke developed a semantics using possible worlds, an accessibility relation between worlds, and a valuation to define the truth of modal formulas. A statement is necessarily true at a world if it is true in all accessible worlds; possibly true if it is true in some accessible world. This Kripkean semantics underpins standard modal logics such as K, S4, and S5 and has influenced developments in related areas of logic and linguistics.

In the philosophy of truth, Kripke proposed a fixed-point, partial theory that treats the truth predicate in stages to accommodate semantic paradoxes like the liar paradox. The term Kripkean is also used to describe positions that apply these analyses to semantics and truth theories.

Overall, Kripkean denotes the influence of Kripke’s ideas on reference, modality, and truth, and is used to describe related models and theses in philosophy and logic.