Written Reflection

1. In a 750 word (or more) written response, explain, discuss and explore the philosophical topic below, and answer the questions provided.  Responses should show an understanding of topic being discussed, and should explore the topic beyond simply summarizing or explaining.  You should answer the questions I've provided (the 'optional' question is optional), but you are also encouraged to take your discussion of the topic beyond the questions that I ask you to respond to.  Creativity and finding connections to outside of the topic are encouraged!

2. Write a minimum of 750 words that are on topic and focused on discussing and analyzing the philosophical topic.

3. Put your word count at the top of your assignment.

Topic:

The Ship of Theseus is an ancient metaphysical puzzle in philosophy that calls into question the nature of identity and and the relationship between a named object and and the component parts that comprise the object.  In our lecture series on the Ship of Theseus we considered two different versions of the puzzle, a basic version that involves Theseus simply discarding the old pieces of his ship as he travels, and a complex version that finds Al Gore trailing behind trying to salvage and repurpose the leftover parts.  We also introduced two theories of identity.  The mereological theory of identity connects the identity of an object to the exact material it is made of, whereas the spatio-temporal theory of identity proposes that the continued existence of an object comes from its continuous existence and unbroken space-time path.

Reflection Directions:

Please review the material on the Ship of Theseus carefully and then write a reflection that responds to the following items:

1. Briefly summarize the two versions of the ship of theseus puzzle in your own words.
2. Consider the complex version (the one that includes Al Gore).  In this version who do you think ends up with the original ship in the end (Theseus, Al Gore, or neither!)?  Why do you think this is the case?
3. Building off your answer to question #2, what do you think it means for an object to continue to exist as the same object over time?  Which theory (mereological or spatio-temporal) is closer to your current view on identity?
4. (Optional) What are some implications of your view on identity?  Here I'm inviting you to apply your view on identity to other cases (humans, society, ferns, whatever) and see if your view gives what you consider to be the intuitively write answers in these cases.