Kripke's Naming and Necessity

In "Naming and Necessity," philosopher Saul Kripke argues that names are not just shorthand for descriptions but have a direct reference to the objects they identify. For example, a person named "Aristotle" refers to that particular individual, independent of any descriptions we might use. Kripke also introduces the idea of rigid designators, which means names refer to the same object in every possible world. This challenges traditional views about meaning and necessity, suggesting that some truths (like "H2O is water") are necessary in all contexts, while others are contingent on specific facts about our world.