A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
The Principle of the Indiscernibility of Identicals Requires No Restrictions
Authors: Maunu Ari
Publisher: Springer
Publication year: 2019
Journal: Synthese
Volume: 196
Issue: 1
First page : 239
Last page: 246
Number of pages: 8
ISSN: 0039-7857
eISSN: 1573-0964
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-017-1468-y
Web address : https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-017-1468-y
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/27687331
There is a certain argument against the principle of the indiscernibility of identicals (PInI), or the thesis that whatever is true of a thing is true of anything identical with that thing. In this argument, PInI is used together with the self-evident principle of the necessity of self-identity ("necessarily, a thing is identical with itself") to reach the conclusion a=b → □a=b, which is held to be paradoxical and, thus, fatal to PInI (in its universal, unrestricted form). My purpose is to show that the argument in question does not have this consequence. Further, I argue that PInI is a universally valid principle which can be used to prove the necessity of identity (which in fact is how the argument in question is usually employed).
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