Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31820/ejap.14.2.1
The Logical Contingency of Identity
Hanoch Ben-Yami
; Central European University
Abstract
I show that intuitive and logical considerations do not justify introducing Leibniz’s Law of the Indiscernibility of Identicals in more than a limited form, as applying to atomic formulas. Once this is accepted, it follows that Leibniz’s Law generalises to all formulas of the first-order Predicate Calculus but not to modal formulas. Among other things, identity turns out to be logically contingent.
Keywords
Leibniz’s Law; indiscernibility of identicals; identity; necessity; contingency
Hrčak ID:
207842
URI
Publication date:
7.11.2018.
Visits: 1.316 *