Full Idea
The purpose of an identity statement is to get the hearer to merge these files or bodies of information into one.
Gist of Idea
An identity statement aims at getting the hearer to merge two mental files
Source
Michael Lockwood (Identity and Reference [1971], p.209), quoted by François Recanati - Mental Files 4.1
Book Reference
Recanati,François: 'Mental Files' [OUP 2012], p.44
A Reaction
Lockwood is a pioneer, in seeing 'Hesperus is Phosphorus' and 'Scott is the author of 'Waverley'' in terms of how the mind works. Mental files seem to me to explain a huge amount. Recanati proposes 'linking' rather than 'merging'.
Related Idea
Idea 16360 Identity statements are informative if they link separate mental files [Recanati]