The Ship of Theseus

The ship of Theseus is a famous thought expriement described to us by Plutarch. The short version is that Theseus returns from a heroic quest, and the ship he returns in becomes a celebrated object of national pride which is used in annual commerative voyages. As the decades pass, bit by bit, the ship has parts replaced as they wear out and decay. Over time, none of the original parts are still there. Is it still the same ship?

This is a normal question that people must confront when they wish to preserve something. Most of us over the age of twelve have a ship of Theseus in our lives.

Now, I'm not saying the question isn't worth thinking about as presented. But there is a bit of misdirection here that should be pointed out. Words have more than one meaning, and with the ship of Theseus, we change meaning mid story.

You are invited first to imagine a ship bobbing there in the water, covered in sails and sailors. Easy enough. But then we change the topic to what the ship is actually made of, the effects time has on it, and what makes it important in the first place. Instead of imagining a ship in the water, you're trying to imagine changes along all these axes of the idea, over decades worth of time no less. In a sense, we aren't just changing out the boards, we're changing out the meaning of the word as we talk about it. No wonder it seems so neublous. Just stop confusing yourself and remember that words normally have more than one meaning and that meanings can change over time.