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Single Idea 17059

[filed under theme 10. Modality / B. Possibility / 1. Possibility ]

Full Idea

If the unicorn myth is supposed to be a particular species, with insufficient internal structure to determine it uniquely, then there is no actual or possible species of which we can say that it would have been the species of unicorns.

Gist of Idea

Unicorns are vague, so no actual or possible creature could count as a unicorn

Source

Saul A. Kripke (Naming and Necessity notes and addenda [1972], Add (a))

Book Ref

Kripke,Saul: 'Naming and Necessity' [Blackwell 1980], p.157

A Reaction

Dummett and Rumfitt discuss this proposal elsewhere.

The 14 ideas from 'Naming and Necessity notes and addenda'

17059 Unicorns are vague, so no actual or possible creature could count as a unicorn [Kripke]
17058 What many people consider merely physically necessary I consider completely necessary [Kripke]
4970 What is often held to be mere physical necessity is actually metaphysical necessity [Kripke]
9221 The best known objection to counterparts is Kripke's, that Humphrey doesn't care if his counterpart wins [Kripke, by Sider]
4950 Possible worlds are useful in set theory, but can be very misleading elsewhere [Kripke]
17000 We might fix identities for small particulars, but it is utopian to hope for such things [Kripke]
16999 A vague identity may seem intransitive, and we might want to talk of 'counterparts' [Kripke]
17003 Kaplan's 'Dthat' is a useful operator for transforming a description into a rigid designation [Kripke]
4956 A description may fix a reference even when it is not true of its object [Kripke]
17032 Even if Gödel didn't produce his theorems, he's still called 'Gödel' [Kripke]
17044 A relation can clearly be reflexive, and identity is the smallest reflexive relation [Kripke]
11868 A different piece of wood could have been used for that table; constitution isn't identity [Wiggins on Kripke]
17052 The a priori analytic truths involving fixing of reference are contingent [Kripke]
4969 I regard the mind-body problem as wide open, and extremely confusing [Kripke]