SELECT * FROM table_1 INNER JOIN table_2 ON table_1.column = table_2.column WHERE table_1.column = ‘string’;
ERROR: column 'string' does not exist
The only way you will get "column 'string' does not exist" is if you wrote the word -string- surrounded by double-quotes so that it is interpreted as an object identifier instead of a literal value. Assuming corresponding tables and columns exist, the query you show would not return that error.