To establish a firmer foundation for the
definition of Truth as presented on this website, it is necessary to
better understand the nature of Identity.
There are two kinds of identity. Identity
of an entity with itself, and identity of two separate entities
with each other.
By entity, I mean either an object that
occupies space or a concept that resides in minds.
The IS of identity can relate two
different entities, Personal Names or Titles.
An example of an identity that refers to
a unique person is
Mark Twain IS Samuel Clemens.
Wherever
“Mark Twain” is used, we can substitute “Samuel Clemens” and our
propositions will remain valid.
An example of an
identity that refers to a Title is
Truth IS God.
The terms “Truth” and “God” are TITLES
and which are not proper names, thus they do not reference any one person
in particular. Just as “President of the US” is a Title and does not
reference any one person in particular. It is only when a proper
name is given that we can know which one of the many Presidents the
speaker is referring to.
In Identity propositions with Names, we
can know who they are referring to because a personal name refers to
a unique person with unique attributes or history.
In Identity propositions with Titles, we
cannot know the person that the proposition is referencing. We need
to further define the Title, so that we can know who in particular
it is referencing.
Thus in
Truth is God, each term, each Title, must
be further defined to be able to apply the Title to a specific
person. The propositions must be interpreted.
Now we need to examine the Two different ways that we think of
Identity:- The Identity of an entity with itself and the Identity of
Two separate entities with each other.
FORMAL IDENTITY >>> A=A
“A” IS THE SAME AS ITSELF >>> TAUTOLOGY, does not enlighten us.
MATERIAL IDENTITY >>> A=B
“A” AND “B” ARE THE SAME >>> of value
Roughly speaking: to say of two things that they are identical is nonsense, and to say of one thing that it is identical with itself is to say nothing.
Ludwig Wittgenstein; (1889-1951); Tractatus
Logico-Philosophicus; 1922/1999; 5.5303; pg. 83
It would seem to be a necessary truth that if a=b then whatever is
truly ascribable to a is truly ascribable to b and vice versa
(Leibniz’s Law).
If a is b, how can a have genuine
properties b hasn’t, or b have genuine properties a hasn’t?
If we had to know all about a planet in order to name or
identify it we could never get started in learning anything
about a planet’s history.
D. Wiggins; Identity-Statements
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