The Ship Of Theseus Paradox Essay - 872 Words

The Ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus’ Paradox, is a thought experiment that questions whether an object is fundamentally the same object after having all of its parts replaced. The story goes that Theseus, a mythical hero of Athens, went on an endeavor to kill the Minotaur who had been harassing the townspeople. When Theseus returned successful, his ship was left in the harbor to commemorate his victory. Consequently, the ship’s planks had deteriorated and were replaced one by one. Thus, the question begs: is this the same ship, or a different one? Throughout this paper I will argue the stance that Theseus’ ship is not the same ship nor has it ever been the same ship the second it left the port in which it was built. Theseus’s Paradox is entirely built upon perception— someone’s view of the ship is different (no matter how minuscule) compared to the next person. Hence why philosophers differ so much on the subject. However, the idea of human perception can be taken into account when discussing this question. Because no answer to this question can be true, is precisely why one answer has to be more true; the ship is different. Take into consideration perception— to apply an identity to an object means that the object was perceived by an observer. The observer selects attributes of its subject in order to serve his/her purpose; the â€Å"attributes† assigned to the subject become the basis for its identity. Therefore, identity has no meaning apart from being a branch ofShow MoreRelatedWhy Is It Our Anatomy That Makes Us Human?802 Words   |  4 Pagesreligions, locations, divorces, and a string of childhood drama I feel I have lived 80 years in my 17 years on this tiny blue sphere. So what makes us, humans. We are never the same from one second to the next. We are the living example of the paradox of Theseus ship, at what point do we stop being who we are and become something new. 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