   The problem of the relational nature of the contents of true singular thoughts can be made more acute by the following puzzle that exercised Gottlob Frege (1892): how can one rationally hold two distinct singular beliefs that are both about one and the same object? As we shall see momentarily, this puzzle is related to a second puzzle: the puzzle of how a statement expressing a belief about identity can both be true and informative. If the belief relation is a genuine relation, then it would seem that it is like kicking: if Jacques Chirac kicked Lionel Jospin and if Lionel Jospin was the French Prime minister in 2001, then Jacques Chirac kicked the French Prime minister in 2001. Not so with belief, as we shall see momentarily. Notice that in ordinary contexts, the word ‘belief’ can be used to denote either a person’s state or the content of that state.