The Ship of Theseus

Topic:
The Ship of Theseus.

Chairperson:
Mary Kennedy

Moderator:
Spencer Sinclare

Meetup Date:
Wednesday, August 6th. 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., with a 15 minute break at 8:00 p.m.

Meetup Location:
Upstairs at The Bent Mast, 512 Simcoe St. Victoria, BC, V8V 1L8

Members:
If you plan to attend, please take a moment and RSVP. If your plans
change and you cannot attend, to the right of your name there are three dots. Please click on them and move yourself to "Not Going."
Thank you :)

Quotes:
"How much can you change and get away with it, before you turn into someone else, before it’s some kind of murder" ~ Richard Siken

"You are the Ship of Theseus. We all are. There is not a single living cell in my body that was alive and a part of me ten years ago, and the same is true for you. We’re constantly being rebuilt, one board at a time." ~ Edward Ashton

Synopsis:
The Scenario

Imagine a ship, famously called the “Ship of Theseus,” which had all its wooden parts replaced over time with new ones. The question is whether this ship, after all its original components are gone, is still the same ship as the one that set sail originally.

The Paradox

The paradox lies in the conflicting intuitions. On one hand, since each individual replacement doesn’t change the ship’s identity, it seems like it should still be the same ship. However, if every single part has been replaced, it’s now made of entirely different materials, leading to the intuition that it’s a different ship.

Philosophical Implications

The Ship of Theseus raises questions about identity, change, and what makes something fundamentally the same over time. It’s a classic example used in discussions about personal identity, materialism, and essentialism.

Variations

A common variation of the paradox involves a second ship built using the original, discarded parts. If the original ship is still the Ship of Theseus, is the second ship also the Ship of Theseus

Watch:
The Ship of Theseus Explained: https://youtu.be/wKSOR-E3CGY?si=BcojagXCSxbUAgbF

The Ship of Theseus’ Paradox: https://youtu.be/x51H6rQqvSg?si=ITGl4Jme9wlIiacQ