What is the ‘ship of Theseus’ thought experiment?

A 1920s illustration of an ancient Greek Bireme that has two decks of oars. — The legendary ship of Theseus raises a number of philosophical questions. Right here, we see a Twenties illustration of an historical Greek Bireme that has two decks of oars. (Picture credit score: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Inventory Picture)

As soon as upon a time — at the very least based on the traditional Greek author Plutarch — the hero Theseus sailed from Athens, Greece, to the island of Crete, the place he slayed the half-man, half-bull Minotaur earlier than crusing again to rule Athens.

The wood ship that Theseus sailed on, Plutarch imagined, will need to have change into a nationwide treasure, and he posed a thought experiment that has fascinated philosophers ever since: In case you repaired Theseus’ ship plank by plank in order that no authentic planks remained, is it nonetheless the identical ship?

“The individuals who’ve been crusing the ship will say, ‘Yeah, it is the identical ship! We have been crusing for years, and we simply hold fixing it,'” mentioned Michael Rea, director of the Heart for Philosophy of Faith on the College of Notre Dame.

“However you may think about a collector wanting to place the unique ship within the museum,” Rea informed Dwell Science. “She goes and gathers up all the unique planks, rebuilds them and says, ‘I’ve acquired the ship of Theseus!’ So, the query is, which one is the ship?”

Associated: What’s Occam’s razor?

Variations of the ship of Theseus thought experiment pop up all over the place. In Marvel Studios’ “WandaVision,” Imaginative and prescient comes face-to-face with a reproduction self and should work out who’s the true Imaginative and prescient. In “The Good Place,” Chidi Anagonye lives lots of of separate lives and should confront which, if any, represents his actual self. In different eras, individuals have requested if an ax nonetheless counts as George Washington’s ax if each the deal with and the ax head are changed.

“It appears like only a dumb occasion puzzle, proper?” Rea mentioned. “However you may study loads by pondering by means of these puzzles actually fastidiously.”

The ship of Theseus thought experiment raises questions in regards to the materials composition of objects: Is the ship the sum of its planks, the sum of its crusing historical past or each without delay? Can objects made up of different objects even be mentioned to exist?

To reply these questions, philosophers should take care of conundrums similar to whether or not two issues can occupy the identical place on the identical time, how components relate to a complete and the way to consider the character of time.

A painting showing Theseus' journeys, including a ship and a labyrinth where he slays the minotaur.

“The Story of Theseus” reveals Theseus’ ship and his killing the minotaur on the heart of the labyrinth. (Picture credit score: Picture 12 / Alamy Inventory Picture)

One reply, Rea mentioned, is to say that solely the planks are actual and the ship “is only a part.” Taken to its logical excessive, this reply, nihilism, implies that solely basic particles exist; objects made up of a number of components are simply an phantasm.

However maybe ships do exist; in that case, possibly they’re outlined by their components. In that case, Rea mentioned, “the museum curator is appropriate.” If objects can survive half substitute — our cells, for instance, are always dying and being changed — then possibly the ship at sea is the true ship.

Or possibly there have been two ships all alongside, typically sharing the identical location. In that case, Rea mentioned, “The phrases ‘ship of Theseus’ had been ambiguous, and that is why now we’re all confused.”

If two objects could be in the identical place on the identical time, it opens up a complete new can of worms — space-time worms, to be actual.

Maybe the ship of Theseus exists as many overlapping chunks of space-time: The ship within the second when the primary plank was changed, the ship because it was when Theseus walked the decks and the ship’s whole existence, from the rising timber that change into its planks to its afterlife as a philosophical thought downside.

Associated: The place does the idea of time journey come from?

All of those ships collectively could be mentioned to “perdure.” “If I perdure, I am this four-dimensionally prolonged factor,” Rea mentioned. “Individuals began calling these space-time worms.” This view normally goes hand-in-hand with the concept the previous and the long run exist — a philosophical stance known as four-dimensionalism — in distinction to presentism, a principle of time wherein solely the current second is actual.

None of this philosophical groundwork, nonetheless, can definitively say which ship is the true ship.

“I feel that it is vitally attention-grabbing that we have now this query in any respect,” mentioned Anne Sauka, a thinker on the College of Latvia. The query itself assumes a selected ontology, or principle of being.

She informed Dwell Science that the ship of Theseus puzzle makes probably the most sense within the context of substance ontology, wherein objects are the main focus of philosophical curiosity. The choice is a course of ontology, which sees change as extra basically actual than objects.

Seen that method, the planks, the ships and Theseus himself usually are not static issues however reasonably processes which might be at all times shifting. Making an attempt to assert both ship for Theseus demonstrates an unwillingness to let both ship evolve into one thing new. “The query itself reveals that we have now an issue with change,” Sauka mentioned.

The ship of Theseus may also be seen as a metaphor for the self: “If we modify, are we a distinct particular person?” Sauka mentioned. In course of ontology, change is the place to begin. “Selfhood is one thing that solely occurs by advantage of change,” she mentioned. Dying “is simply the dissolving of that exact course of that was a secure course of for a time.”

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Related Posts