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In the philosophy of language and modal logic, a term is said to be a non-rigid designator (or flaccid designator) or connotative term if it does not extensionally designate (denote, refer to) the same object in all possible worlds. This is in contrast to a rigid designator, which does designate the same object in all possible worlds in which that object exists, and does not designate anything else in those worlds in which that object does not exist.[1] The term was coined by Saul Kripke in his 1970 lecture series at Princeton University, later published as the book Naming and Necessity.[2]
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Revised Second Edition. 2008. p. 318.
- ^ Kripke, Saul (1980). Naming and Necessity. Harvard University Press. p. 22.