Ariella Dabush
Philosophy 2101
Professor Shawn Simpson
The Ship of Theseus Paradox The paradox begins with The Ship of Theseus being at a port and needing repairs. One plank is removed and replaced. After some time another, and another. Eventually, after a while, there comes a point where all of the planks are replaced. Therefore, the ship now has a completely new outer appearance. Is this ship still The Ship of Theseus? Or is it a new ship? What is the cutoff to calling it a new ship? Yes, it is the same ship, but why? A few debates were brought up for when the ship is to be considered a new ship, and why. At what point do we consider this ship to belong to someone else? At what point is this ship considered to be a completely different ship? One answer that was…show more content… However, I do not agree with this. If you have a hundred planks, you change fifty-one planks; it is still the same ship. The planks may all be new, but if they were being repaired it was important for the ship. Although most of the ship is replaced, the planks are not what identify the ship. The last point that was brought up was once you replace all of the planks. I disagree with this. Although the ship is visually different, doesn’t mean it is a new ship. You can change a ship from a wooden ship, to a stainless steel ship; it will be the same ship. Only the outside is being changed. Why is it the same ship? The Ship of Theseus is identified by two factors. The first factor is the ownership. If someone redoes their ship, it is still their ship. The owner of the ship, in this case Theseus, has a right to make changes to his ship. The ship belongs to Theseus before and after the cosmetic changes, and repairs. If Theseus needs to repair planks in order for his ship to be able to not sink, he can. He is making the decisions to change the appearance of his own