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Single Idea 9584

[filed under theme 19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 2. Meaning as Mental ]

Full Idea

The relation of sameness remains puzzling to a psychological logician. They cannot say 'A is the same as B', because that requires distinguishing A from B, so that these would have to be different presentations.

Gist of Idea

Identity baffles psychologists, since A and B must be presented differently to identify them

Source

Gottlob Frege (Review of Husserl's 'Phil of Arithmetic' [1894], p.327)

Book Ref

-: 'Mind July 1972' [-], p.327

A Reaction

This is why Frege needed the concept of reference, so that identity could be outside the mind (as in Hesperus = Phosophorus). Think about an electron; now think about a different electron.

The 15 ideas from 'Review of Husserl's 'Phil of Arithmetic''

9821 A definition need not capture the sense of an expression - just get the reference right [Frege, by Dummett]
17446 Counting rests on one-one correspondence, of numerals to objects [Frege]
9577 The naïve view of number is that it is like a heap of things, or maybe a property of a heap [Frege]
9578 If objects are just presentation, we get increasing abstraction by ignoring their properties [Frege]
9580 Our concepts recognise existing relations, they don't change them [Frege]
9579 Disregarding properties of two cats still leaves different objects, but what is now the difference? [Frege]
9581 Many people have the same thought, which is the component, not the private presentation [Frege]
9582 Husserl rests sameness of number on one-one correlation, forgetting the correlation with numbers themselves [Frege]
9583 Psychological logicians are concerned with sense of words, but mathematicians study the reference [Frege]
9584 Identity baffles psychologists, since A and B must be presented differently to identify them [Frege]
9585 Since every definition is an equation, one cannot define equality itself [Frege]
9586 In a number-statement, something is predicated of a concept [Frege]
9587 How do you find the right level of inattention; you eliminate too many or too few characteristics [Frege]
9588 Number-abstraction somehow makes things identical without changing them! [Frege]
9589 Numbers are not real like the sea, but (crucially) they are still objective [Frege]