Difference is a key
concept of
philosophy, denoting the process or set of
properties by which one
entity is distinguished from another within a
relational field or a given
conceptual system. In the
Western philosophical system, difference is traditionally viewed as being opposed to
identity, following the Principles of Leibniz, and in particular, his Law of the
Identity of indiscernibles. In
structuralist and
poststructuralist accounts, however, difference is understood to be
constitutive of both meaning and identity. In other words, because identity (particularly, but not limited to,
personal identity) is viewed in
non-essentialist terms as a construct, and because constructs only produce meaning through the interplay of differences (see below), it is the case that for both
structuralism and
poststructuralism, identity cannot be said to exist without difference.