Identity in Physics
A Historical, Philosophical, and Formal Analysis
French, Steven University of Leeds
Krause, Décio Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil
Print publication date: 2006 (this edition)
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: September 2006
Print ISBN-13: 978-0-19-927824-4







doi:10.1093/0199278245.003.0005

Steven French
Décio Krause
Abstract: This chapter begins with a broad discussion of the use of names in science and their role in physical theories. The philosophy of names is outlined, covering the ‘Descriptivist’, ‘Non-descriptivist’, and ‘Hybrid’ accounts. The claim that Kripke’s theory of rigidly designating names is tied to classical statistics is critically assessed, and it is argued that a form of the ‘Hybrid’ account can accommodate quantum particles understood as named individuals for which distinguishing descriptions cannot be given. Toraldo di Francia and Dalla Chiara’s theory of quasets is presented as the formal counterpart to this view. This is compared with Krause’s theory of quasi-sets in Chapter 7.

Keywords: names, descriptivist, non-descriptivist, hybrid, causal theory, rigid designator, nomological objects, quaset theory,

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