The Ship of Theseus reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Ship of Theseus

The Ship of Theseus is a replacement paradox also known as Theseus' Paradox.

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."

There is also an additional question: if the replaced parts were stored in a warehouse and later used to reconstruct the ship, which--if either--would be the original ship of Theseus?

George Washington's axe

A similar story is told about George Washington's axe, with which the young George Washington is supposed, in an apocryphal story, to have cut down his father's cherry tree. The axe is supposedly on display in an (unverifiable) American museum, although, having had both its handle and its head replaced several times, no part of the original axe remains.

A modern embellishment

If Theseus paid a nontransferable fee, allowed to be used for only one ship, for the privilege of docking in a particular harbor, would he violate the non-transferability of his license if repeated replacement of boards eventually had the result described above?


See also identity and change.