Marcus, Kripke, and the origin of the New Theory of Reference

Abstract

It is argued that the origin of several key ideas of the “new theory of reference” can be traced to an article by Ruth Barcan Marcus (1961), & not to the work of Saul Kripke. These ideas include the notions that names are directly referential, names are rigid designators, & identity sentences with coreferring names are necessary if true. These ideas are elaborated in an overview of Marcus’s article. It is suggested that Kripke has not assigned origination of these ideas to Marcus because he did not understand their import when he read Marcus’s work. 28 References. Adapted from the source document