The Ship of Theseus Paradox: Who Are You?

The Ship of Theseus paradox is a paradox that questions the identity of an object .

What is your identity?

Is it your name? The way you look? The way you talk or your special hand gestures?

In many cultures, a "family name" indicates an individual's or family's role in society or profession (usually in the past). Baker, Archer, or Weaver are common names in English-speaking parts of the West. In Indian culture, a "family name" is also used to indicate a person's caste.

Apart from our name, our face and appearance also tell us about our identity . An interestingly shaped nose or wild, unkempt hair can also become a person's identity. There are many people in this world who are famous just because of their appearance.

People look different, which makes them different from others.

According to scientists, the human body replaces 330 billion cells every day. This means that every minute that passes, your body has 229,166,667 new cells. At this rate, in 100 days, you will be almost completely new!

So are you the same person you were a hundred days ago?

Cosmetic surgery can change your appearance. In some cases, the changes are so drastic that we can't recognize the person. Even though they look different, are they still the same person?

Cells actively divide to form new cells.

In many cultures, after marriage, one person (usually the wife) takes the other person's surname (usually the husband's). And people can change their names when they get married. Are they still the same person after changing their name?

If your answer to all or most of the above questions is 'yes' then we are forced to ask… why? Why are they still the same person? We use names and faces to identify people, so when their name or face changes, do they change? You might disagree and say that their face and name may have changed, but their personality has not. My cells may be brand new, but I still act, think and feel the same.

Accordingly, the question 'What am I/it?' is at the heart of the paradox of the ship of Theseus.

The Ship of Theseus

Theseus was the son of King Aegeus. The king lost a battle with King Minos and owed him a great debt. King Aegeus then sent a group of seven boys and seven girls to explore the labyrinth that contained the Minotaur, a ferocious beast.

And Theseus volunteered to go as one of the seven boys. They were to sail to Crete. King Aegeus was deeply saddened at the thought that his son might be sacrificed, but Theseus assured him that if he returned alive, the ship would have white sails. If he died, the sails would remain black.

However, after returning from exploring the labyrinth, although Theseus survived, he forgot to change the color of the sails. The king then threw himself off the cliff when he saw the ship with black sails.

The ship is famously known as the "Ship of Theseus" and is kept in a museum in Athens as a reminder of Theseus' courage and intelligence as well as the tragedy of King Aegeus.

Paradox

Plutarch was one of the first philosophers to propose this paradox. If a ship begins to rot, parts will need to be replaced. If all of the original parts of the ship are eventually replaced, is it still the same ship that Theseus used to travel to the labyrinth? If every part of an object is replaced over time, when does the object cease to be what it was originally?

Illustration of the ship of Theseus.

This question was further modified by the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes. If the original parts of the ship were later reassembled and reassembled to look exactly like the original ship, which ship would be considered Theseus' original ship?

Perhaps we can look at this using transitivity theory. The theory says that if A=B and B=C, then A=C. In this case, A is the original ship Theseus used to get to the labyrinth, B is the ship that was repaired over time, and C is the ship that was reassembled. So all the ships have a unique identity. However, this doesn't make sense because the two ships—the one that was repaired over time and the one that was reassembled—are different.

According to Aristotle, the elements that make up a thing are its form, the material it is made of, and its purpose. Therefore, the original ship would remain its original nature, because its shape would not change, regardless of what material it was made of.

However, this claim has been thoroughly debated by many philosophers.

And accordingly, until now, this paradox still has no clear answer.