Ship of Theseus

E657700

identity paradox metaphysical puzzle philosophical thought experiment

Ship of Theseus is a classic philosophical thought experiment that questions whether an object that has had all its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object.

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Statements (51)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	identity paradox ⓘ metaphysical puzzle ⓘ philosophical thought experiment ⓘ
associatedWithPhilosopher	David Hume NERFINISHED ⓘ Heraclitus (by thematic connection) NERFINISHED ⓘ John Locke NERFINISHED ⓘ Plutarch NERFINISHED ⓘ Thomas Hobbes NERFINISHED ⓘ
firstKnownSource	Plutarch NERFINISHED ⓘ
firstKnownWork	Life of Theseus NERFINISHED ⓘ
hasMainTheme	change and identity ⓘ mereology ⓘ numerical identity ⓘ object persistence ⓘ persistence of identity over time ⓘ personal identity (by analogy) ⓘ problem of material constitution ⓘ qualitative identity ⓘ
hasModernUsage	metaphor for organizations or systems that change components over time ⓘ
hasQuestion	What conditions are necessary and sufficient for an object to persist ⓘ Whether an object remains the same when all its parts are replaced ⓘ
hasQuestion	Whether continuity of form or continuity of matter grounds identity ⓘ
hasScenario	A second ship reconstructed from the original discarded planks ⓘ A ship whose planks are gradually replaced over time ⓘ
historicalContext	Ancient Greek philosophy ⓘ
influenced	modern debates on personal identity ⓘ science fiction treatments of teleportation and duplication ⓘ
involvesNotion	essential vs accidental properties ⓘ part-whole relations ⓘ spatiotemporal continuity ⓘ temporal continuity ⓘ
raisesProblem	Whether identity can be duplicated ⓘ Whether identity is preserved through gradual change ⓘ Which of the two resulting ships, if any, is the original ship ⓘ
relatedConcept	Theseus NERFINISHED ⓘ brain transplant thought experiments ⓘ bundle theory of objects ⓘ endurantism ⓘ four-dimensionalism ⓘ paradox of the heap (sorites paradox) NERFINISHED ⓘ perdurantism ⓘ substance theory ⓘ teletransportation paradox ⓘ
usedAs	illustration of paradox of replacement ⓘ intuitive test case for theories of persistence ⓘ teaching example for identity over time ⓘ
usedInField	logic ⓘ metaphysics ⓘ ontology ⓘ philosophy of language ⓘ philosophy of mind ⓘ

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Theseus's paradox (Ship of Theseus) → hasAlias → Ship of Theseus ⓘ

subject surface form: Theseus's paradox