THE UNITY OF IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE AS THE ...

Each judgment contains two obvious moments – the moment of difference and the
moment of connection. In judgment, the mind distinguishes two features of reality. The
difference between the subject and the predicate reflects the distinction between these
two features. The subject term refers to one feature of the world, and the predicate term
refers to a second feature of the world. In the structure of judgment, the difference
between the subject and the predicate term expresses the mental act of analysis or
distinction. Assuming that this structural moment of judgment corresponds to some
genuine structural feature of the object, it follows that the difference between the subject
and the predicate also expresses some duality or plurality in the object.
The structure of judgment also involves a moment of identity. In judgment, the
mind connects, synthesizes, or unites two distinct moments. The copula expresses the
cognitive act of connection, synthesis, or unification. Again, if we assume that the
structure of judgment corresponds to the structure of the object, then the copula also
expresses some unity in the object. Thus the copula expresses the sense in which the
features referred to by the subject and the predicate terms both belong to, or are united in,
the same object, the sense in which these features are both aspects of the same object.
Thus, considered as a cognitive process capable of reflecting the structure of
genuine objects, judgment implies (a) the duality or plurality of the object, as well as (b)
the unity of the object. Stated differently, the structure of judgment implies that there is
one sense in which the object presents a plurality, and another sense in which the object
presents a unity. In order to reflect the difference between the subject and the predicate,
there must be some sense in which the object presents a plurality, and in order to reflect
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