ipl-logo

Ship Of Theseus Essay

452 Words2 Pages

The ship of theseus is a thought experiment used to show the nature of identity. Ship A leaves harbor with a hull full of parts identical to every part on Ship A. When at sea, the men on the ship start to replace every piece of Ship A with the identical parts from the hull. They continue until every piece of wood and every bolt has been exchanged. The ship that is comprised of the new identical parts is Ship B. When the ship is brought back to harbor the men construct a new ship with parts left over, this is Ship C.

There are two ways in which two things can be considered identical. They can be numerically or qualitatively identical. Objects are numerically identical if and only if every peice of those objects are one in the same (Handout #6). Objects are qualitatively identical if and only if they share all of the same properties. (Handout #6) To the townspeople, Ship A and Ship B would seem to be numerically identical. They saw Ship A leave port, and saw an identical Ship return. But for the Ships to be numerically identical they must be one in the same. Which means that Ship A and B must occupy the exact same space at the same time. We know this is not true …show more content…

The Ship of Theseus shows how materialist theories fail to explain how things can change throughout time yet still be identical. Leibniz’s Law states that “x and y are identical (i.e., x=y), then x and y have the same properties (for every x and y),” (Dolson, HO #3, p.1). When a person ages, their bodies change. The person will have different memories, they will have grow bigger, the way they respond to situations will change. For a materialist theory to say that a person at age 6 is the same person at age 60, they must reject Leibniz’s Law. Leibniz’s Law requires that for a person at age 6 to be the same person at 60 they must share all of the same properties, which is clearly not the

Show More
Related
168 Words | 1 Pages

As the days went past still no Odysseus my master I will not die without seeing him until then I will hold on to the grass and be the brave Odysseus dog and try to take the pain of these suitors not feeding me abusing me . I will hide under a mass of dung until I wish to see my Odysseus so I can let go. At last I see Odysseus and no it is ok to go when I see him from 20 years and about to die I finally let go as Odysseus walks past trying not to cry because of how I wasn 't taken care of and died. Argos still knows what he was feeling inside so he feels at peace at last and lets the grass go.

Read More
851 Words | 4 Pages

The crew turned into 4 men without a plane, so they got several replacement crewmen. However,

Read More
821 Words | 4 Pages

Odysseus is a typical example of a hero. He is able to pull off miraculous things to save himself and his crew seemingly without fail. The story of his journey is well known, and a great tale of his adventures. In the two parts we have read so far, we see what he is willing to do for his crew, and his intelligence and quick thinking in difficult situations. The first challenge that waits them is the island of Cyclopes.

Read More
1096 Words | 5 Pages

Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats is about the Gary Paulsen’s life on the sea. In this book he talks about his main voyage. Mr. Paulsen just got out of the army and had nothing to do and nowhere to be. For some reason he wanted to go see the beach so bad that he felt like he was going to die.

Read More
726 Words | 3 Pages

If you were to think about a man with great abilities like being strong, courageous and intelligent, you could think of people you personally or like me, you could think of someone such as Odysseus. Odysseus fits the definition of an epic hero because he is quick thinking, strong and courageous. Odysseus is one quick thinking individual. He has gotten him and his crew out some some sticky situations with his clever plans. One of these plans were how to get away from Polyphemus, a cyclops who was the son of Poseidon.

Read More
1043 Words | 5 Pages

Odysseus Essay: Odysseus of Ithaka. Some historians have argued for years that he is a noble hero, and others say he is just a man trying to get home from many hardship and challenges, however Odysseus is the definition of a hero. During Odysseus’s journey it becomes evident that Odysseus is a hero like the legends say, he meets all the criterias of being a hero such as being brave, smart, fighting against evil, and protecting others from danger. For generations people have been correct to honor the great Odysseus, for his actions along his adventures. Although there has been some evidence that points to Odysseus not being a hero, this essay will give three reasons why Odysseus should be respected as a hero.

Read More
415 Words | 2 Pages

The journey of Odysseus was a long and grueling time, but his love for Penelope was strong enough to get him home to her. He faced many trials on his journey home, facing many foes and many temptations. He was not alone on his journey, he was accompanied by his men, who fought with him during the Trojan war. Would his fellow soldiers endure?

Read More
450 Words | 2 Pages

The odyssey, an epic told by Homer in ancient greece, has many major themes following odysseus’s adventures. While Odysseus is sentenced to never return home after the Trojan War. He is overcoming challenges to return home to his wife penelope and his son Telemachus. Throughout the story major themes of loyalty, hospitality and vengeance are hidden within the plot. The story continues to show his heroic side with three major traits.

Read More
1008 Words | 5 Pages

The world of literature offers many different works; some may offer similarities while there are differences between others. There are more similarities than differences between Odysseus and Oedipus. Two great examples of literature is the tragic play “Oedipus the King”, written by Sophocles and “The Odyssey”, an epic poem written by Homer who were both Greek poets. Both poets’ work shows similar examples of life altering changes that were ultimately controlled by the Greek gods.

Read More
1603 Words | 7 Pages

We have this wealth of knowledge we have accumulated throughout our lives and we now start to understand more things in life. Personally, I think this is true since wisdom comes with age. Additionally, there would seem to be more time in the day since they would have very few responsibilities. Slowly, the things we care about begin to slip our minds and turn to nothingness. “We gave our lives to such things once and now can hardly remember what they were anymore” (Chittister 220).

Read More
946 Words | 4 Pages

Viking long-ships were lean, speedy, lightweight ships that could easily cut through the most vicious waves that the ocean could throw at them. At the time, no other civilization had been able to achieve such an amazing naval feat, so this gave the Vikings a great advantage over medieval combat, political affairs, and even the trading industry. Since the ships were so fast, the ships were great for transportation of soldiers, or merchandise. “The Viking longboat was the key to the Vikings success in traveling.” (Legends and Chronicles, Paragraph 14).

Read More
574 Words | 3 Pages

In the book The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus, is a man who is loved and respected by many. In the beginning of the book, we learn that Odysseus has left on a journey and, since it has been many years since his departure, many people assume that he has passed. On his journey, he portrays his many traits, not all of them being good ones either. Some of his good traits include his cunning, bravery, and hard work ethic. On the other hand, his negative traits are his excessive pride, immense curiosity, and rather large temper.

Read More
333 Words | 2 Pages

Hercules and Theseus, two great heroes from mythology, seem to be similar in many ways. Both extremely brave and noble; with a love of danger and adventure mixed with compassion, creates the perfect heroes. Their stories intertwine with one another’s when Hercules has to save Theseus from the chair of forgetfulness in Hades. Theseus saved Hercules when he was distraught with intent to kill himself. In a similar way, they both stood by their friends no matter the cost.

Read More
1113 Words | 5 Pages

The most interesting part of the birthday paradox might as well be that it is calculated using the probability that every birthday is different, because both probabilities are parallel. Another interesting part about this paradox is that instead of the probability of two people having the same birthday decrease as more people are added as we can see from an every day life problem such as taking a slice of pizza from a whole, the chances increase as there are more people available for having the same birthday, which automatically makes the results a linear graph. 3) Introduction:

Read More
901 Words | 4 Pages

Compare and Contrast Portia and Calpurnia Have you ever wondered how similar, two people are? Have you ever wondered how different they are? The book Ii 'm here to talk about is The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare. The book is about how Julius Caesar died. But Ii 'm not here to talk about Julius Caesar;, I am going to talk about how Portia and Calpurnia are the same and different.

Read More

More about Ship Of Theseus Essay

Related Topics

Open Document