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Law of Contextual Identity

A principle that identity judgments depend on the context of inquiry—what counts as “the same” in a legal context may differ from a historical context, a psychological context, etc. The law rejects the notion of a single, context‑free identity relation, emphasizing that identity is always identity‑in‑context.
Law of Contextual Identity Example: “In copyright law, the song is the same composition; in music criticism, the live version is a different work. Contextual identity allows both to be true.”
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 24, 2026
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