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    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Geach's relative identity thesis requires that 'is the same F as' be a logically primitive relation, but Wiggins argues this generates vicious semantic indeterminacy.

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    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Geach's framework allows 'x is same F as y' yet 'x is not same G as y'—this violates Leibniz's law and undermines the logic of identity itself fundamentally.
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    • 2.Sortals like F and G are conceptual tools, not metaphysical primitives; identity can remain absolute while sortal-relativity reflects epistemic access, not being.
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    • 3.Semantic indeterminacy charges that relative identity leaves it unclear what 'sameness' means; Geach provides no criteria for when relative identity relations obtain.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Without primitive relative identity, 'same' becomes ambiguous—the ship's planks are same matter but not same ship, requiring unexplained sortal dependency.
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    • 2.Wiggins's absolute identity criterion merely relocates the problem: it presupposes sortal concepts determine identity conditions, but this itself needs justification.
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    • 3.Natural language permits genuinely different identity criteria across contexts ('same person' vs 'same body'), suggesting relative identity captures real semantic structure.
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