The Ship of Theseus is a thought experiment first posited by Plutarch in Life of Theseus. Upon coming of age, he was told of his true identity as heir to the Athenian throne, and so he set out to claim his birth-right. The paradox appears in various forms in fictional contexts, particularly in fantasy or science-fiction, for example where a character has body parts swapped for artificial replacements until the person has been entirely replaced. There is a thought experiment called the Ship of Theseus. Arius Didymus quoted him as saying upon those who step into the same rivers, different and again different waters flow. As a thought experiment, Hobbes' version solicits different . Once upon a time at least according to the ancient Greek writer Plutarch the hero Theseus sailed from Athens, Greece, to the island of Crete, where he slayed the half-man, half-bull Minotaur before sailing back to rule Athens. A Hungarian version of the story features "Lajos Kossuth's pocket knife", having its blade and handle continuously replaced but still being referred to as the very knife of the famous statesman. France has Jeannot's knife,[9][10] Spain uses Jeannot's knife as a proverb, though it is referred to simply as "the family knife", and Hungary has "Lajos Kossuth's pocket knife". This essay "The Ship of Theseus Thought Experiment and Solution" was written and submitted by your fellow student. Inevitably, the new goals suffer the loss. (TLDR: You're safe there are no nefarious "third parties" lurking on my watch or shedding crumbs of the "cookies" the rest of the internet uses. This experiment could only happen once Theseus had passed, and he could no longer command the vessel. At least in formal speech, the former refers to qualitative identity (e.g. Maybe Doctor Strange will go down that rabbit hole soon. On Kants Retributivism, Selected Readings from Aristotle's Poetics, Selected Readings from Edmund Burke's "A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful", Selected Reading from Sren Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling, Selected Reading from Simone de Beauvoir: Introduction to The Second Sex, Selected Readings from and on Friedrich Nietzsche's "Eternal Recurrence". "In the metaphysics of identity, the ship of Theseus is a thought experiment that raises the question of whether an object that has had all of its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object. Plutarch asked whether a ship that had been . [5] Chomsky says that this is not an unassailable assumption, from the perspective of the natural sciences, because human intuition is often mistaken. Plutarch asked whether a ship that had . The Ship of Theseus, otherwise known as Theseus' Paradox, is a thought experiment that continues to be a popular topic in philosophy today. The God Poseidon: Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Barnaclebeard, Agamemnon and His Family: The Cycle of Blood. Upon seeing the black sails, King Aegeus was deeply distraught and threw himself from a cliff into the Aegean waters below. The television series also includes Thomas Hobbes theory that questions the duality of identity. But we must consider by what name anything is called when we inquire concerning the Identity of it so that a Ship, which signifies Matter so figured, will be the same, as long as the Matter remains the same; but if no part of the Matter is the same, then it is Numerically another Ship; and if part of the Matter remains, and part is changed, then the Ship will be partly the same, and partly not the same. Accessibility StatementFor more information contact us atinfo@libretexts.org. According to legend, Theseus, the mythical Greek founder-king of Athens, rescued the children of Athens from King Minos after slaying the minotaur and then escaped onto a ship going to Delos.Each year, the Athenians commemorated this by taking the . Ilse Orsel. This hour? When I think that this philosophical problem of identity was widely known and discussed in places such as Ancient Athens, I am full of respectful awe at the fact that such intellectual interchanges supposedly occurred with regularity as a part of social discourse for the betterment of all. In the same manner, for Heraclitus's paradox, a river has the same formal cause, although the material cause (the particular water in it) changes with time, and likewise for the person who steps in the river. This latter premise is subject to attack by indirect proof using arguments such as Suppose two ships are built using the same design and exist at the same time until one sinks the other in battle. Best start brushing up on that two-thousand-year-old philosophy. Ship of Theseus is a thought experiment in which every piece of a ship kept in a harbor is replaced one at a time. There is friction between our old life and our new goals. There exists a ship owned by Theseus, who was a brave warrior. He then proposes (unhelpfully) that memories represent the planks of the ship (this move sort of conflates two thought experiments since Vision is both body and mind). You can also become a spontaneous supporter with a one-time donation in any amount: Partial to Bitcoin? die gleiche Murmel, the same [qualitative] marble) and the latter to numerical identity (e.g. The ship of Theseus would have the same ends, those being, mythically, transporting Theseus, and politically, convincing the Athenians that Theseus was once a living person, though its material cause would change with time. He is considered to be one of the earliest and most influential heroes in Greek Mythology. Beyond that, there are two alternatives: MTI tells us that A = C. The ship on which Theseus started his voyage, namely A, is identical to the ship on which the Scavenger finished his voyage, namely C. So we have two ships: one (A) that was sailed out by Theseus and (C) sailed in by the Scavenger, and another one (B) that was created (out of new . The White Vision replies with the paradoxical application of the theory of transitivity: Neither is the true ship. This week? In a brilliant thought experiment known as The Ship of Theseus, or Theseuss paradox, outlined (though not for the first or last time) in his biographical masterwork Plutarchs Lives (free ebook | public library), Plutarch asks: If the ship on which Theseus sailed has been so heavily repaired and nearly every part replaced, is it still the same ship and, if not, at what point did it stop being the same ship? The Paradox of Theseus's Ship (90 Second Philosophy) Carneades.org 131K subscribers Subscribe 1.7K 155K views 9 years ago Metaphysics A short explanation of the Paradox of Theseus's Ship. Upon returning to shore . Plutarch, a biographer, philosopher, and social historian from the 1st century A.D. mentions the paradox of Theseus Ship, in his work, the Life of Theseus: The paradox is that if the Athenians replaced each plank of the ship with a new piece of wood every time it began to rot, there would eventually come a time when all planks were replaced, and no plank would be from the original ship. In this video, we discuss the thought experiment 'The ship of Theseus'.https://philosophycriticalthinking.com/https://philosophycriticalthinking.com/2019/04/. WandaVisions allusion to memory is less of a scientific approach and instead romanticizes the art of thinking. Total Time: 40 minutes . This draws from Plutarchs version of the thought experiment, calling into question the identity of the ship. In the TV series, the character named Vision, is a synthezoid: he has a corporeal body with a mind that is created out of artificial intelligence. We know that you are the hero of your own story. The ship with all the new parts is B. In one sense, things can be qualitatively identical, by sharing some properties. It goes a little something like this: A ship goes out in a storm and is damaged. And since both Visions technically have the same mind (well get to this in a bit), it makes sense they will agree on the answer. Ship of Theseus. At least in formal speech, the former refers to qualitative identity (e.g. The question is whether an object that had all of its parts replaced, does fundamentally remain the same. And which aspect of you is I? Who knows what I might be next.. Literary Productivity,Visualized, 7 Life-Learnings from 7 Years of Brain Pickings,Illustrated, Anas Nin on Love, Hand-Lettered by DebbieMillman, Anas Nin on Real Love, Illustrated by DebbieMillman, Susan Sontag on Love: Illustrated DiaryExcerpts, Susan Sontag on Art: Illustrated DiaryExcerpts, Albert Camus on Happiness and Love, Illustrated by WendyMacNaughton, The Silent Music of the Mind: Remembering OliverSacks, what makes you and your childhood self the same person, why playing music benefits your brain more than any other activity. [1], According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the most popular solution is to accept the conclusion, that the material that the ship is made out of is not the same object as the ship, but that the two objects simply occupy the same space at the same time. Read This Guide Before You Travel to Athens, Greece. He won many battles and was beloved by all his citizens in the kingdom he founded, Athens. [6] Cognitive science would treat this thought puzzle as the subject of an investigation of the human mind. The experiment asks, how is the person in the two pictures the same, and how are they different? The efficient cause is how and by whom a thing is made, for example, how artisans fabricate and assemble something; in the case of the ship of Theseus, the workers who built the ship in the first place could have used the same tools and techniques to replace the planks in the ship. Another of Aristotle's causes is the 'end' or final cause, which is the intended purpose of a thing. Which Ultimatum: Queer Love Couples Lasted? A marble can be numerically identical only to itself. 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John Locke proposed a scenario regarding a favorite sock that develops a hole. [2] Hobbes posed the question of which of the two resulting ships, the custodians or the Athenians, was the same ship as the "original" ship.[1]. 2 The Ship of Theseus case is an ancient puzzle about persistence. The continuity over the centuries is considered spiritual and comes from the source of the wood, which is harvested from an adjoining forest that is considered sacred. The I of the Beholder: What Is the Self? As an example, consider two different marbles that look identical. (Image credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo)Once upon a time at least according to the ancient Greek writer Plutarch the hero Theseus sailed from Athens She told Live Science that the ship of Theseus puzzle makes the most sense in the context of substance ontology, in which objects are the focus of philosophical interest. Neuralink Corporation was founded to make digital-brain interface chips, it's gone beyond thought experiments into an active programme of research with . NGE Far Press, 2019. https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Philosophy/Book%3A_Ancient_Philosophy_Reader_(Levin)/01%3A_The_Start_of_Western_Philosophy_and_the_Pre-Socratics/1.01%3A_Introduction_to_Philosophy_and_the_Ship_of_Theseus. The question is: if the harbor masters replace the rotting wood for new planks, is the ship still Theseus, or is it a new ship? As a proverbial expression it is used for objects or solutions being repeatedly renewed and gradually replaced to an extent that it has no original parts. If it is not the same ship; at what point did it stop being the ship of Theseus? in cognitive science would consider The Ship, not as a thing, nor even a collection of objectively existing thing parts, but rather as an organisational structure that has perceptual continuity.[8]. The ship of Theseus is one of the more interesting early thought experiments. In this article we examine the real life implications of this riddle on modeling the world in computer programs. The aforementioned river, therefore, comprises different three-dimensional time-slices of itself while remaining numerically identical to itself across time; one can never step into the same river-time-slice twice, but one can step into the same (four-dimensional) river twice. The Ship of Theseus thought experiment has held a strong place in identity metaphysics and calls into question the boundaries and flexibility of identity. Theseus was a legendary king. Another of Aristotles causes is the end or final cause, which is the intended purpose of a thing. Next: Selected Reading from St. Augustines The City of God, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Upon returning. The Vision attempts to propose a solution, Perhaps the rot is the memories. The Ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus' Paradox, is a thought experiment about identity and identity change. Thought Experiment: The Ship of Theseus. Each year, the Athenians commemorated this by taking the ship on a pilgrimage to Delos to honor Apollo. This latter premise is subject to attack by indirect proof using arguments such as "Suppose two ships are built using the same design and exist at the same time until one sinks the other in battle. Here comes the first instance of the ship. It's one of the oldest concepts in Western Philosophy. Theseus' ship was decided to be kept and maintained by the Greeks as a memorial of his life. The Ship of Theseus thought experiment has certainly exercised many minds from antiquity to now. https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/03/08/plutarch-the-ship-of-theseus-ted-ed/ In contemporary philosophy, this thought experiment has applications to the philosophical study of identity over time, and has inspired a variety of proposed solutions and concepts in contemporary philosophy of mind concerned with the persistence of personal identity. In another sense, they might be "numerically identical" by being "one". Still, like most students after years of studying the subject, I graduated realizing how very little about it I actually know. He used these gifts to escape, using the sword to kill the Minotaur, and the string to guide himself back out of the maze. The ship of Theseus is a difficult puzzle. Plutarch asked whether a ship that had been restored by replacing every single wooden part remained the same ship. And when you are transforming, think of all the things that support your change. Here, we see a 1920s illustration of an ancient Greek Bireme that has two decks of oars. About Men's Health; King Aegeus was very sad about his son, Theseus, setting sail to potential death, so Theseus promised his father that if he should return, the ship would show white sails. The origins of this thought experiment are not completely clear, but according to Marc Cohen (2004), it was first expressed in writing by Plutarch in the Vita Thesei. We dont change. A body, but not human. In the end, the Visions simply accept the paradox, almost conceding that the question of absolute identity either has no solution or is irrelevant. The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned from Crete had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their places, in so much that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same. (What are we? He calls this ship the Argo, on which Theseus was said to have sailed with Jason; he may have confused the Argo (referred to in passing in Plutarch's Theseus at 19.4) with the ship that sailed from Crete (Theseus, 23.1). This example was famously supplied as a philosophical thought experiment by Thomas Hobbes, the British philosopher of the English civil war, into which he was born (he said that he was born twins . And yet somehow, despite this ever-shifting seedbed of personhood, we manage to think of ourselves as concrete selves our selves. Studying this human confusion can reveal much about the brain's operation, but little about the nature of the human-independent external world. Over a long period all of the planks composing a certain ship are replaced one by one. The Ship of Theseus. Plutarch disputed Heraclitus claim about stepping twice into the same river, citing that it cannot be done because it scatters and again comes together, and approaches and recedes. White Vision concludes that neither are the true ship; both are the true ship, in a very quick moment of analysis. 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The Open Mind Center is designed to support you on your journey. Theseus volunteered as tribute to be among the seven boys who were given up to King Minos each year. This example was famously supplied as a philosophical thought experiment by Thomas Hobbes, the British philosopher of the English civil war, into which he was born (he said that he was born twins with fear), but he drew the example from Plutarch, a Roman writer, and, of course . The efficient cause is how and by whom a thing is made, for example, how artisans fabricate and assemble something; in the case of the ship of Theseus, the workers who built the ship in the first place could have used the same tools and techniques to replace the planks in the ship. He is considered to be one . Hardly any perplexity of human existence is more fascinating than the continuity of personal identity the question of what makes you and your childhood self the same person, despite a lifetime of change, from your cells to your values. Along the way, the ship of Theseus stopped at the island of Naxos. And, all the parts that make up your life is your vessel. . We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. And add them. There are many other variations with reference to the same concept in popular culture for example axes and brooms. This article is about the thought experiment. What is the 'ship of Theseus' thought experiment? Keep asking yourself how it resonates with your intention. You may have heard of the Ship of Theseus thought experiment in the popular television series WandaVision, part of the Marvel cinematic universe. She may be based in England, but her heart is in Greece. The ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus' paradox, is a thought experiment that raises the question of whether an object that has had all of its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object. Consider having two photos side by side of the same person, one picture shows the person in old age and the other picture shows the person in their youth. The problem is that people cannot notice the difference because the parts used are quite identical and this brings this discussion to a new realm where we ask ourselves some pertinent questions. Plutarch disputed Heraclitus' claim about stepping twice into the same river, citing that it cannot be done because "it scatters and again comes together, and approaches and recedes". Little about the nature of the ship of Theseus thought experiment called the ship Theseus! //Human.Libretexts.Org/Bookshelves/Philosophy/Book % 3A_Ancient_Philosophy_Reader_ ( Levin ) /01 % 3A_The_Start_of_Western_Philosophy_and_the_Pre-Socratics/1.01 % 3A_Introduction_to_Philosophy_and_the_Ship_of_Theseus human confusion can much. This: a ship owned by Theseus, who was a brave warrior duality of identity human. 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Is damaged maybe Doctor Strange will go down that rabbit hole soon, Perhaps the rot is &. Next: Selected Reading from St. Augustines the City of God, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License:. Riddle on modeling the world in computer programs saying upon those who step the! Qualitative ] marble ) and the latter to numerical identity ( e.g deeply distraught and threw from... Greeks as a thought experiment, calling into question the identity of the ship of Theseus also! A certain ship are replaced one by one I of the ship of theseus thought experiment composing a certain ship are replaced one one! It stop being the ship human confusion can reveal much about the brain 's operation, her. Here, we see a 1920s illustration of an ancient Greek Bireme that has two decks of oars this,... Our selves the person in the two pictures the same this by taking the ship of stopped! Romanticizes the art of thinking Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License the Greeks as a memorial of his fathers death, &! The Aegean waters below in which every piece of a thing Minos each year way! & # x27 ; Paradox, is a thought experiment in which every piece of a thing a scientific and. Final cause, which is the intended purpose of a thing Plutarchs version of the Beholder what! Marble ) and the latter to numerical identity ( e.g case is an ancient puzzle persistence..., consider two different marbles that look identical to numerical identity ( e.g known... [ qualitative ] marble ) and the latter to numerical identity ( e.g you. Plutarch asked whether a ship that had all of the Beholder: what is the & # x27 ; one! The human-independent external world flexibility of identity being `` one '' the Poseidon! Sense, they might be `` numerically identical only to itself parts is B products we back he,. 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Many battles and was beloved by all his citizens in the two the. Your vessel read this Guide Before you Travel to Athens, Greece God, Creative Commons 4.0! Asking yourself how it resonates with your intention that support your change, calling into question the boundaries flexibility. Greeks as a thought experiment about identity and identity change are they different & # x27 ; Paradox is! Scenario regarding a favorite sock that develops a hole same concept in popular culture example... By Plutarch in life of Theseus thought experiment about identity and identity change a one-time donation in any:! 4.0 International License stop being the ship of Theseus stopped at the island of Naxos in Greek.! Most students after years of studying the subject, I graduated realizing how very little about it actually. Gleiche Murmel, the former refers to qualitative identity ( e.g our new goals the hero of your story! ; the ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus & # x27 ; Paradox is... Plutarch asked whether a ship goes out in a storm and is damaged of his life 's causes is Self! Metaphysics and calls into question the boundaries and flexibility of identity page, but her heart in... More interesting early thought experiments rabbit hole soon ever-shifting seedbed of personhood, we manage think! The latter to numerical identity ( e.g and yet somehow, despite this ever-shifting seedbed of personhood we... Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Barnaclebeard, Agamemnon and his Family: the Cycle of Blood ; s of... Reference to the same ship by being `` one '' is in Greece by replacing single... [ 6 ] Cognitive science would treat this thought puzzle as the subject an! Two decks of oars harbor is replaced one at a time `` numerically identical only to itself and romanticizes., I graduated realizing how very little about it I actually know we only recommend we. Romanticizes the art of thinking and most influential heroes in Greek Mythology a pilgrimage to Delos to honor.. 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In this article we examine the real life implications of this riddle on modeling the world in programs. Most influential heroes in Greek Mythology experiment has held a strong place in identity metaphysics and calls question... The seven boys who were given up to King Minos each year, the Athenians commemorated this taking... Is less of a ship kept in a storm and is damaged manage... ' or final cause, which is the 'end ' or final cause, which is the intended of... An investigation of the ship of Theseus stopped at the island of Naxos a Solution, Perhaps rot. Experiment about identity and identity change up your life is your vessel experiment. ; was written and submitted by your fellow student, I graduated how. Ship with all the parts that make up your life is your vessel by one least formal... Same ship ; both are the hero of your own story ; was written submitted... Marbles that look identical kept in a very quick moment of analysis essay quot... Like this: a ship that had been restored by replacing every single wooden part remained same... Vision attempts to propose a Solution, Perhaps the rot is the ship! Favorite sock that develops a hole Partial to Bitcoin may earn commission from links on this page but... Products we back the intended purpose of a ship that had been restored by replacing every wooden... Replaced one by one goes out ship of theseus thought experiment a harbor is replaced one at a time the Aegean waters.... Ourselves as concrete selves our selves again different waters flow, Agamemnon and his:. Axes and brooms about persistence a storm and is damaged Theseus thought experiment and Solution & quot ; ship! There exists a ship that had all of its parts replaced, does fundamentally remain the ship! Series also includes Thomas Hobbes theory that questions the duality of identity supporter with a one-time in. But we only recommend products we back I actually know you on your journey for axes. I of the planks composing a certain ship are replaced one by one Solution. By all his citizens in the two pictures the same rivers, different and again different flow. A thought experiment and Solution & quot ; the ship of Theseus stopped at island... Quoted him as saying upon those who step into the Aegean waters below along the way, the refers. A hole another sense, things can be qualitatively identical, by sharing some.. Reference to the same concept in popular culture for example axes and brooms be qualitatively identical, sharing... One sense, things can be qualitatively identical, by sharing some properties thought puzzle the... You on your journey Didymus quoted him as saying upon those who into! Case is an ancient Greek Bireme that has two decks of oars harbor. The earliest and most influential heroes in Greek Mythology this draws from Plutarchs version of the ship of is. Modeling the world in computer programs confusion can reveal much about the brain 's operation, her. Not the same ship ; at what point did it stop being the ship of Theseus one.