--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Yifu" <yifuxero@...> wrote: > > SHIP OF THESEUS from Wiki: > According to Greek legend as reported by Plutarch, > > 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 place, insomuch 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. > —Plutarch, Theseus[1] > Plutarch thus questions whether the ship would remain the same if it were > entirely replaced, piece by piece. Centuries later, the philosopher Thomas > Hobbes introduced a further puzzle, wondering: what would happen if the > original planks were gathered up after they were replaced, and used to build > a second ship.[2] Which ship, if either, is the original Ship of Theseus?" >
;-) Good question! And if we don't even understand what makes for the identity of a 'thing', how are we to understand the identity of that which is closest to our heart, our selves? It is said that every material part of our body is replaced over so many years. So every material element of me-now has changed from, say me-in-1970 (one might suppose). Now as a thought experiment (for materialists), if it were possible to re-combine the set of material elements that comprised me-in-1970, who would exist? Two of me? if they met up in the pub for a pint or two, just who would be looking at who? Or is it just that identity is inexplicable under the assumption of materialism?
