On 11/8/15, Mark, Wes, and Dylan were rejoined by Matt Teichman to continue the thread of our ep. #126 on Saul Kripke. Our primary text was his 1975 article "The Meaning of Meaning," with secondary emphasis on his earlier, preparatory essays, "It Ain't Necessarily So" (1962) and "Is Semantics Possible?" (1970). If Kripke was concerned primarily with debunking the Continue Reading …
Episode 126: Saul Kripke on Possibilities, Language & Science
On Naming and Necessity (1980). What's the relationship between language and the world? Specifically, what makes a name or a class term (like "tiger") pick out the person or things that it does? Saul Kripke wanted to correct the dominant view of his time (which involved speakers having some description in mind, and it's that description that hooks the word to the thing), and Continue Reading …
New Thing for Sale (and Free for Members): A Reading of Russell’s “On Denoting”
I've released a new recording: me reading Bertrand Russell's essay, "On Denoting". It's available free to members, or (since it's public domain), anyone can purchase it here. A key point of transition between our Frege episode and our very-soon-to-be-released Quine episode is Russell's theory of definite descriptions. In "On Denoting" from 1905, which you can read here, Continue Reading …