ABSTRACT
Imagine you’re playing a game of chess (though hnefatafl will do, if you prefer). Is the pawn real? Obviously, the figure you’re moving is real; but is the pawn itself? The figurine, after all, is not identical to ‘the’ pawn. If it were lost, any old object would do to replace it—you could even play chess with coins, if you wanted to. Pawns might then be pennies, knights nickels, bishops dimes, rooks quarters, the queen a loonie, and the king a toonie (or whatever your local equivalents are).
