Ship of Theseus

The ship of Theseus ( Theseus ' paradox) is a philosophical paradox, which was already known in ancient times. It raises the question of whether an object to lose its identity, when many or all of its components are replaced in succession.

Well-known scenarios of the paradox

Greek legend

The earliest formulation is narrated by Plutarch:

The question raised by this thought experiment philosophical problem is a common example in the philosophy of teaching and is often debated in contemporary ontology, because a plausible theory about when persist an object as one and apply the same and as such, even with changes in time can must prove it. Ted Sider, for example, defends that an ontological Vierdimensionalismus solves this problem elegantly. Vierdimensionalisten represent that objects just as they occupy sections in space, this also applies to the extent exactly do the same to be treated periods of time ( ie have " time slices " or "time worms " to imagine ).

Problem of dual identity

Another philosophical problem is the double identity, which can be illustrated by a simple example:

Now there are two ships: the ship that uses Theuseus and its planks were replaced in 1000, and the ship owner of the shipyard, which was composed of all the original parts of Theseus's original ship. The question raised by this scenario is which of the two ships now is Theseus ' ship.

It is possible to formulate this roughly four possible opinions:

Example of use

The problem in 2010 was used by the Administrative Court of Frankfurt am Main to discuss the permit requirement of a CHP plant. It was referred to this product.