Abstract

Is the statue made of copper identical with the piece of copper from which it is made? This question was argued for years since Allan Gibbard published Contingent Identity in 1975. Before arguing for or against identity, I try to clarify different usages of the word “identity” and the conditions under which Leibniz’s Law is effective. In our language, there are four concepts of identity, and Leibniz’s Law works differently in each case. Both monist and pluralists fail to distinguish the four concepts. However, monist could be right.