(Bill)Roger Bissell was kind enough to refer me to a source in Aristotle's writing which was cited in Wikipedia, in which "The Philosopher" does refer to the law of identity, although he does not name it as such: "[T]he fact that a thing is itself is the single reason and the single cause to be given in answer to all such questions as why the man is man, or the musician musical', unless one were to answer 'because each thing is inseparable from itself, and its being one just meant this'; this, however, is common to all things and is a short and easy way with the question." - Metaphysics [Book VII, Ch. 17, 1041a, 15.]
(Nick)If there is anything on which authorities agree, it is that the Metaphysics is a very confusing book. It is ambiguous and still debated. It is not clear what Aristotle is saying in some places. However, my two authorities, J.H. Randall and W.F. O’Neill, who cites him, conclude that A is A is an Aristotelian suggestion that “it is not wise, on a pragmatic basis of encouraging effective thought and communication—to change the ground rules by shifting the meaning of terms once the game is in progress. It is, of course, up to each individual to decide whether he wants to start a new game.”
(Bill)Also, from Wikipedia: "The law of identity has deep impact on Aristotle's ethics as well. In order for a person to be morally praiseworthy or blameworthy for an action, he or she must be the same person before the act as during the act and after the act. Without the law of identity, Aristotle notes, there can be no responsibility for vice (see Nicomachean ethics)."
(Nick)This has presented problems over the years. If the cells in a person’s body are entirely replaced every seven years, is he the same person he was seven years ago? Is he still responsible for a crime he committed seven years ago, even if no cell in his body is the same as it was when he committed the crime?
bis bald,
Nick
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