This is a writing assignment on understanding and evaluating the “Ship of Theseus” thought experiment about identity.
Read the following article on the Ship of Theseus thought experiment: “This Ancient Thought Exercise Will Have You Questioning Your Identity.” Then answer the following prompts:
1. Do you think the all-new-parts ship is the same ship as the original ship? That is, do you think the ship remains the same ship (numerically identical) throughout the entire time it is used, worn down, repaired with its planks replaced, even when it no longer has any of the same planks as the original ship when it was first created?
(Your answer to this question is expected to be one sentence.)
2. Why do you think they are the same ship or not the same ship? Be sure to fully explain and defend your answer.
(Your answer to this question is expected to be one paragraph.)
3. Now consider Thomas Hobbes’s variation on this thought experiment, as explained at the end of that article linked above. Do you think the newly-built-out-of-the-old-ship-parts ship is the same ship as the original ship?
(Your answer to this question is expected to be one sentence.)
4. Why do you think they are the same ship or not the same ship? Be sure to fully explain and defend your answer.
(Your answer to this question is expected to be one paragraph.)
5. Based on your opinion of both these thought experiments, explain your theory of identity. What, if anything, is the essential aspect (or are the essential aspects) of an object continuing to exist over time? Be sure to fully explain and defend your answer.
(Your answer to this question is expected to be one paragraph.)
55 Points
CSLO 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
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