MARCUS, KRIPKE, AND THE ORIGIN OF THE NEW THEORY OF REFERENCE

In this paper, presented at an APA colloquium in Boston on December 28 , 1994, it is argued that Ruth Barcan Marcus' 1961 article on ''Modali ties and Intensional Languages'' originated many of the key ideas of t he New Theory of Reference that have often been attributed to Saul Kri pke and others. For example, Marcus argued that names are directly ref erential and are not equivalent to contingent descriptions, that names are rigid designators, and that identity sentences with co-referring names are necessary if true. She also first presented the modal argume nt that names are directly referential, the epistemic argument that na mes are directly referential, and the argument that there are a poster iori necessities.