 Consider the statements “Hesperus is visible in the eastern sky” and “Phosphorus is visible in the eastern sky.” On referentialist principles, the two statements express the same proposition, the one that is true in all worlds in which Venus (the planet that ‘Hesperus’ and ‘Phosphorus’ are two names for) is visible in the eastern sky. But they seem to convey different information. And, most dramatically, “Hesperus is Hesperus” seems trivial, while “Hesperus is Phosphorus” or “Phosphorus is Venus” seem to convey valuable information. And yet, on referentialist principles, all three identity statements express the same proposition.