SS 2013 Wed 16-18 Burse 218
Alessandro Torza
http://atorza.weebly.com
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen Philosophisches Seminar
Bursagasse 1 Room 217
Office hours: Th 15-16 Aim and scope
No notion seems simpler and easier to understand than identity, the relation which everything bears to itself and nothing else. Despite its apparent simplicity, however, it is far from clear what the properties of identity are, as the following questions suggest:
- Is it the case that identical things have the same properties?
- Is identity a necessary relation?
- Is it the case, as Leibniz suggested, that things having the same properties are identical?
- When we talk about 'properties' in the above conditions, what kinds of properties are we referring to?
- Anti-haecceitism is the view that the qualitative facts about the world fix the identity facts. Is this view tenable?
- Can the identity relation be vague? - Is identity a fundamental relation?
- Does identity apply to the objects of quantum physics? If not, should we revise set theory accordingly?
- Do mathematical objects acquire their identity simply in virtue of the relations they bear to each other?
- Can identity be a one-many relation?
The goal of this course is to understand and attempt to answer the above questions in the light of the most recent philosophical literature.
The class will be taught in English. Bibliography
Barnes, Elizabeth (2009). “Indeterminacy, identity and counterparts: Evans reconsidered”, Synthese, 168(1): 81–96
Black, Max (1952). “The identity of indiscernibles”, Mind, 61(242): 153–64
Burgess, Alexis (2012). “A puzzle about identity”, Thought, 1: 90–99
Cotnoir, Aaron (forthcoming). “Composition as general identity” in Karen Bennett and Dean Zimmerman (eds.), Oxford Studies in Metaphysics, Oxford University Press. Pre-print at:
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~ac117/
Dasgupta, Shamik (2009). “Individuals: an essay in revisionary metaphysics”, Philosophical Studies, 145(1): 35–67
Dorato, Mauro and Matteo Morganti (2013). “Grades of individuality. A pluralistic view of identity in quantum mechanics and in the sciences”, Philosophical Studies, 163(3): 591–610
Evans, Gareth (1978). “Can there be vague objects?”,
Analysis, 38(4): 208
French, Steven and Décio Krause (2003). “Quantum vagueness”,
Erkenntnis, 59(1): 97–124
French, Steven and Décio Krause (2006). Identity in Physics: A Historical, Philosophical and Formal Analysis, Oxford University Press
Gibbard, Allan (1975). “Contingent identity”, Journal of Philosophical Logic, 4(2): 187–221
Hacking, Ian (1975). “The identity of indiscernibles”, The Journal of Philosophy, 72(9): 249-56
Hawley, Katherine (2006). “Principles of composition and criteria of identity”, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 84(4): 481–93
Kleinschmidt, Shieva (forthcoming). “Many-one identity and the Trinity”, in Jonathan Kvanvig (ed.), Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Religion, vol. 4, Oxford University Press
Krause, Décio (1992). “On a quasi-set theory”, Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, 33(3): 402–11
Kripke, Saul (1971). “Identity and necessity”, in Milton Munitz (ed.), Identity and Individuation, NYU Press: 135–64
Kripke, Saul (1980). Naming and Necessity, Wiley
Ladyman, James, Øystein Linnebo and Richard Pettigrew (2012). “Identity and discernibility in philosophy and logic”, The Review of Symbolic Logic, 5(1): 162–86
Noonan, Harold (1991). “Indeterminate identity, contingent identity and Abelardian predicates”, The Philosophical Quarterly, 41(163): 183–93
Paganini, Elisa (2011). “Vague objects without ontically indeterminate identity”, Erkenntnis, 74(3): 351–62
Quine, W. V. (1976). “Grades of discriminability”. Journal of Philosophy, 73: 113–16
Rodríguez-Pereyra, Gonzalo (2006). “How not to trivialize the identity of indiscernibles”, in Strawson, Peter and A. Chakrabarti (eds.), Concepts, Properties and Qualities, Ashgate: 205–23.
Saunders, Simon (2006). “Are quantum particles objects?”,
Analysis, 66(1): 52–63
Schwarz, Wolfgang (2013). “Contingent identity”, Philosophy Compass, 8(5): 486–95
Shapiro, Stewart (2008). “Identity, indiscernibility, and
ante rem structuralism: the tale of i and -i”, Philosophia Mathematica, 16(3): 285–309
Turner, Jason (forthcoming). “Donald Baxter’s composition as identity”, in Donald Baxter and Aaron Cotnoir (eds.),
Composition as Identity, Oxford University Press. Pre-print at: http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~phljtt/
Williams, J.R.G. (2008). “Multiple actualities and ontically vague identity”, The Philosophical Quarterly, 58(230): 134–54
Assignments and policies
Short essays. Each student enrolled in this class is required to submit 9 short assignments.
Each essay must be structured as follows. (1) Formulate a question or a problem that you find interesting or hard to solve based on the reading for the week. (2) Provide a solution or a strategy for a possible solution, or discuss the problem if you think you cannot find a solution. The whole assignment should be 1 page in length.
Everybody is expected to discuss their own questions during lecture. Short assignments must be submitted at the beginning of class, or otherwise emailed, on the day they are due. Late assignments will not be accepted.
Final essay. One paper of approximately 20 pages (not including bibliography) must be submitted at the end of the course on a topic agreed upon with the instructor.
The final grade is weighed as follows. Short essays: 63% (7%x9). Final essay: 37%. Attendance will count towards the grade as follows: two absences are allowed; for each additional absence, subtract 5% from the final grade.
Although cooperation among students is encouraged, assignments are meant to be individual tasks. Overwhelmingly similar assignments will not count for credit. Remember that plagiarism (including use of unreferenced web sources) will not be tolerated.
Schedule and readings
April 17 Course presentation
April 24 Identity of indiscernibles I Reading: Black (1952)
Optional readings: Hacking (1975), Rodríguez-Pereyra (2006)
May 1 ***NO CLASS*** May 8 ***NO CLASS***
May 15 Identity of indiscernibles II Reading: Shapiro (2008)
May 29 Indiscernibility of identicals and contingent identity I
Reading: Kripke (1971)
Optional reading: Kripke (1980)
June 5 Indiscernibility of identicals and contingent identity II
Reading: Gibbard (1975)
Optional reading: Schwarz (2013) June 12 Vague identity I
Reading: Noonan (1991)
Optional reading: Evans (1978) June 19 Vague identity II
Reading: Williams (2008)
Optional readings: Barnes (2009), Paganini (2011) June 26 Identity in quantum physics I
Reading: French and Krause (2003)
Optional readings: Krause (1992), French and Krause (2006)
July 3 Identity in quantum physics II Reading: Dorato and Morganti (2013) Optional reading: Saunders (2006) July 10 Identity and fundamentality
Reading: Dasgupta (2009)
Optional reading: Burgess (2012) July 17 Composition as identity I
Reading: Turner (forthcoming)
Optional reading: Cotnoir (forthcoming)
July 24 Composition as identity II
Reading: Kleinschmidt (forthcoming)
Optional reading: Hawley (2006)
