The Identity of Indiscernibles

Author(s)
Forrest, Peter
Publication Date
2010
Abstract
The Identity of Indiscernibles is a principle of analytic ontology first explicitly formulated by Wilhelm Gottfried Leibniz in his 'Discourse on Metaphysics', Section 9 (Loemker 1969: 308). It states that no two distinct things exactly resemble each other. This is often referred to as 'Leibniz's Law' and is typically understood to mean that no two objects have exactly the same properties. The Identity of Indiscernibles is of interest because it raises questions about the factors which individuate qualitatively identical objects. Recent work on the interpretation of quantum mechanics suggests that the principle fails in the quantum domain (see French 2006).
Citation
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
ISSN
1095-5054
Link
Publisher
Stanford University, Center for the Study of Language and Information
Edition
Fall 2010 Edition
Title
The Identity of Indiscernibles
Type of document
Entry In Reference Work
Entity Type
Publication

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