Second Paper, due Thursday, March 13^th

Topic:

Explain why Kripke thinks that the rigidity of names shows the "Frege-Russell" description theory of the meaning of names to be wrong. Be sure to say what a rigid designator is, and explain why Kripke thinks that names are rigid designators.

(You may wish to discuss, or at least think about, the distinction Kripke draws between taking the Frege-Russell theory as a theory of meaning and taking it as a theory of reference.)

What I'm looking for here is a critical exegesis.

In saying that I want an exegesis I mean that I just want you to present Kripke's views on the assigned topic and say what his arguments for those views are. I do not want you to devise new arguments for or against his views. You should take your task to be one of clear presentation. You should assume your reader to be an intelligent philosopher that's not especially familiar with this text or subject matter.

In saying that I want the exegesis to be a critical one, I mean that I don't want you in your paper to blindly accept and present as true everything that Kripke says. You should note problems or unclarities in the relevant portions of the text if and where you find them; and you should provide elaboration and explication of views and arguments if and where you find them to be overly compressed.

Always provide specific page references for passages you discuss.

• Your paper should be 1300--1700 words long (not including long quotes from the texts---which, if they occur, should be singlespaced and set off from the main body of the paper with indentation). The paper should be double-spaced, with ample margins (1 inch on top and bottom; 1.25 inches on left and right), ample font size (at least 11pt), and page numbers.
• Your goal should be to demonstrate a solid understanding of the material; an ability to present problems, arguments and theories clearly and succintly; and a developing understanding of how philosophical theories and arguments are evaluated.
• You must avoid plagiarism at all cost. So always err on the safe side by putting things in your own words whenever possible, and putting things that aren't your own words in quotes, "like this," with texts and page numbers cited where appropriate, and giving proper attribution when presenting someone else's ideas.

This page created by Delia Graff
URL: http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/research/graff/phil332/paper2.html
Last modified: "Sunday, 01 Jan 06, 13:56"