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Full Idea
We cannot know what something is without knowing how it is marked off from other things. Identity is thus of a piece with ontology.
Gist of Idea
We know what things are by distinguishing them, so identity is part of ontology
Source
Willard Quine (Ontological Relativity [1968], p.55)
Book Ref
Quine,Willard: 'Ontological Relativity and Other Essays' [Columbia 1969], p.55
A Reaction
Actually it is failure of identity which seems to raise questions of individuation. If I say 'this apple is [pause] identical to this apple', I don't see how that helps me to individuate apples.
| 8470 | Reference is inscrutable, because we cannot choose between theories of numbers [Quine, by Orenstein] |
| 18963 | Indeterminacy translating 'rabbit' depends on translating individuation terms [Quine] |
| 1633 | Absolute ontological questions are meaningless, because the answers are circular definitions [Quine] |
| 18964 | Ontology is relative to both a background theory and a translation manual [Quine] |
| 18965 | We know what things are by distinguishing them, so identity is part of ontology [Quine] |
| 21642 | If quantification is all substitutional, there is no ontology [Quine] |
| 1634 | Two things are relative - the background theory, and translating the object theory into the background theory [Quine] |