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Full Idea
The only way we can discover that two things exist is by finding out that one has a quality not possessed by the other, or else that one has a relational characteristic that the other hasn't.
Gist of Idea
Two things can only be distinguished by a distinct property or a distinct relation
Source
Max Black (The Identity of Indiscernibles [1952], p.67)
Book Ref
'Metaphysics - An Anthology', ed/tr. Sosa,E. /Kim,J. [Blackwell 1999], p.67
A Reaction
At least this doesn't conflate relations with properties. Note that this idea is clearly epistemological, and in no way rules out the separateness of two objects which none of us can ever discern. Maybe the Earth has two Suns, which imperceptibly swap.
| 14524 | Bodies are combinations of shape, size, resistance and weight [Epicurus] |
| 12971 | If two individuals could be indistinguishable, there could be no principle of individuation [Leibniz] |
| 19379 | The law of the series, which determines future states of a substance, is what individuates it [Leibniz] |
| 10194 | Two things can only be distinguished by a distinct property or a distinct relation [Black] |
| 17668 | It is likely that particulars can be individuated by unique conjunctions of properties [Armstrong] |
| 8520 | An individual is a union of a group of qualities and a position [Quinton, by Campbell,K] |
| 17647 | Kripke individuates objects by essential modal properties (and presupposes essentialism) [Kripke, by Putnam] |
| 15455 | Total intrinsic properties give us what a thing is [Lewis] |
| 8303 | Criteria of identity cannot individuate objects, because they are shared among different types [Lowe] |
| 16680 | Scholastics thought Quantity could be the principle of individuation [Pasnau] |
| 16785 | If you reject essences, questions of individuation become extremely difficult [Pasnau] |