Single Idea 21637

[catalogued under 5. Theory of Logic / F. Referring in Logic / 1. Naming / d. Singular terms]

Full Idea

Identity between objects occurs in 'How Mary makes a chocolate cake is identical to how my grandfather used to make it', but does this show that 'how Mary makes a chocolate cake' aims to pick out an entity?

Gist of Idea

If two processes are said to be identical, that doesn't make their terms refer to entities

Source

Thomas Hofweber (Ontology and the Ambitions of Metaphysics [2016], 02.3)

Book Reference

Hofweber,Thomas: 'Ontology and the Ambitions of Metaphysics' [OUP 2018], p.26


A Reaction

This is a counterexample to the Fregean thought that the criterion for the existence of the referent of a singular term is its capacity to participate in an identity relation. Defenders of the Fregean view are aware of such examples.