Self-identity in Plutarch’s Ship of Theseus Essay Sample

It is not often that one questions if they are the same person they were when they were born, but when presented with the question, many would simply answer that they are not. That response would then garner the question, ‘at what point did you become a different person?’. We go about our daily lives with the assumption that we are the same person we were the day before, many philosophers have challenged this concept and idea throughout the years, but ultimately, there is no ‘right answer’ of ‘are you the same person you were [at a certain point in time]’. For this essay, I will be using the example of The Ship of Theseus. After careful consideration and thought, I believe that to be ‘the same’, an object or being must have identical material composition and must be the same in essence as the ‘original’ version. 

To begin, the concept of The Ship of Theseus was first presented by Plutarch, in which he said the following, “The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned 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.”   Plutarch (Vita Thesei, 22-23). As mentioned before, this sentence poses a very interesting and complex question of sameness and how it can be applied to self-identity. Though Plutarch avoids mentioning his stance, the question that he establishes allows for considerable discussion. Plutarch’s Ship of Theseus question can be modified and extended upon in many ways, to the point of which it can be applied to the question, “what makes you the same person now that you were [point in time]”, to which I would argue that you are never the same person and that you are an eternally changing being. My argument, that a being or object must remain same in material composition as well as in essence, would imply that everything is ever changing with every additional memory, event, or physical change. 

To begin, I will first address my first premise being that objects and beings must remain the same in material composition to be the original version of said thing. Applying this to humans would mean that we are constantly a new version of ourselves since our cells are always dying, transforming, and multiplying. Though most of these extremely minor molecular alterations do not affect our personalities or characters, they do however alter our physical beings and therefore, makes you different than the moment before. I believe that all beings and objects are simply versions of their previous selves. Circling back to the Ship of Theseus, using my argument, when the first physical alteration occurred to the ship, it was no longer the original, but a version of the said original. For argument’s sake, say there was a person who took each old, or original part of the ship, and resembled in the identical order, that ship would be identical in material composition, but has an entirely different essence than the original ship. 

That leads me to my second premise, an object or being must be the same in essence to be the original. Humans are constantly experiencing, and therefore are, yet again, ever changing and never the same. Though some experiences and events do not drastically alter who you are as a person, all happenings play a role in a change of character that you will sooner or later face. In the example of the Ship of Theseus, throughout the physical change of the ship, it also experiences new memories, goes to new places, and its entire history is ever changing, therefore is again, not the original ship from its original state. 

Applying these ideas to myself, I believe I am an entirely different version of myself since the beginning of the semester. Not only has my material composition was drastically altered, I have also changed immensely in my essence because of my newly acquired experience. Because of such experiences, I am now a more enlightened version of my previous self with all new and improved knowledge and understanding of life. With this, I believe that only a small part of me is still the same as at the start of the year. Some characteristics are perpetual and will never change, though there is almost always possible revision. For example, someone may always identify as being smart, however, that characteristic is continually changing because the person can get progressively smarter over time. In the end, the only thing that remains constant, is change, change is the only certainty of constants. 

In summary, the questions of self-identity raised from Plutarch’s Ship of Theseus can be interpreted and answered using many different explanations. Regardless of your position on self-identity, there is no way around the fact that change is the only constant that we can confirm and therefore, there is no constant in self-identity. As discussed, my reasoning and conditions for this imply that there is no possible way to be the same person you were moments ago due to changes in material composition or/and essence.