  In this two-part paper, we review, and then develop, the assessment of the
hole argument for general relativity. This first Part reviews the literature
hitherto, focussing on the philosophical aspects. It also introduces two main
ideas we will need in Part II: which will propose a framework for making
comparisons of non-isomorphic spacetimes.
  In Section 1 of this paper, we recall Einstein's original argument. Section 2
recalls the argument's revival by philosophers in the 1980s and 1990s. This
includes the first main idea we will need in Part II: namely, that two
spacetime points in different possible situations are never strictly identical
-- they are merely counterparts.
  In Section 3, we report -- and rebut -- more recent claims to "dissolve" the
argument. Our rebuttal is based on the fact that in differential geometry, and
its applications in physics such as general relativity, points are in some
cases identified, or correspond with each other, between one context and
another, by means other than isometry (or isomorphism). We call such a
correspondence a threading of points. This is the second main idea we shall use
in Part II.
