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Single Idea 13788

[from 'Cratylus' by Plato, in 9. Objects / F. Identity among Objects / 7. Indiscernible Objects ]

Full Idea

Soc: Suppose we made a duplicate of everything you have and put it beside you; would there then be two Cratyluses, or Cratylus and an image of Cratylus? Crat: It seems to me, Socrates, that there would be two Cratyluses.

Gist of Idea

If we made a perfect duplicate of Cratylus, there would be two Cratyluses

Source

Plato (Cratylus [c.377 BCE], 432c)

Book Reference

Plato: 'Complete Works', ed/tr. Cooper,John M. [Hackett 1997], p.148


A Reaction

Don't think that science fiction examples are a modern development in philosophy. Plato has just invented the Startrek transporter. The two Cratyluses are the two spheres in Max Black's famous example.

Related Idea

Idea 10195 If the universe just held two indiscernibles spheres, that refutes the Identity of Indiscernibles [Black]