Once again, I’m returning to the well of “The Philosopher’s Notebook: A Creative Journal for Thinkers and Philosophers.”
For those of you who didn’t read my first philosophical prompt article, this book contains several sections of guides on famous philoosphers and their popular arguments as well as a writing prompt after each section to share your own thoughts.
Just like before, I know it’s important to ponder life’s biggest questions and I love giving my personal opinions on universal themes.
Here is the prompt:
“Self-knowledge is a key component of Socratic philosophy. However, the concepts of self and identity are anything but straightforward, as this philosophical fable highlights.
‘To commemorate his victory over the Minotaur in the labyrinth of Crete, Theseus’ ship was preserved for posterity. Over time, rotting planks and other parts had to be replaced, so that, eventually, the ship was composed of entirely new materials. Was it still the same ship?’
A modern variation of this ancient problem is somewhat closer to home. Human cells are continuously replaced, and much of the body is rebuilt over time. By the age of 65, you will have gone through six skeletons, four sets of muscles and guts, and your red blood cells will have been renewed almost 200 times. So can you be regarded as the same person you were 20 years ago?
Not the whole body regenerates–the lens inside your eye will be as old as you, possibly your heart-muscle cells, and, perhaps significantly, the neurons of your cerebral cortex. Given that the cerebral cortex plays a key role in perception, memory, consciousness, etc, does this have any bearing on the question?”
– “The Philosopher’s Notebook” by Mark Stephens
“Self-knowledge is a key component of Socratic philosophy. However, the concepts of self and identity are anything but straightforward, as this philosophical fable highlights.
‘To commemorate his victory over the Minotaur in the labyrinth of Crete, Theseus’ ship was preserved for posterity. Over time, rotting planks and other parts had to be replaced, so that, eventually, the ship was composed of entirely new materials. Was it still the same ship?’
A modern variation of this ancient problem is somewhat closer to home. Human cells are continuously replaced, and much of the body is rebuilt over time. By the age of 65, you will have gone through six skeletons, four sets of muscles and guts, and your red blood cells will have been renewed almost 200 times. So can you be regarded as the same person you were 20 years ago?
Not the whole body regenerates–the lens inside your eye will be as old as you, possibly your heart-muscle cells, and, perhaps significantly, the neurons of your cerebral cortex. Given that the cerebral cortex plays a key role in perception, memory, consciousness, etc, does this have any bearing on the question?”
Is it still the same ship?
The entire point of this exercise is to assert where true identity lies. Is there a basal “self” object that is always the same and never-changing? I do not believe this to be the case.
No, the ship is not the same in its physical makeup. It has replaced parts and the pieces that Theseus touched and that carried him across waterways are no longer a part of the object. Physically, no, it is not the same ship.
The point of this parable is more to explore the symbolic identity of the ship. If the purpose was to preserve the ship for posterity, then that identity still remains.
The ship as an inspiration for those who look upon it, a memorial to a victory over an insanely powerful foe against insurmountable odds, a symbol of overcoming adversity is still part of its identity regardless of the pieces that make up the whole.
Can you be regarded as the same person you were 20 years ago?
With my previous statements in mind, no, you are not the same person you were 20 years ago.
Even if you’re simply looking at a picture of yourself from childhood, that is not “you.” The “you” yesterday and the “you” tomorrow are irrelevant. They exist in the same timeline, but they do not exist simultaneously. You are not “the same person” one moment to the next let alone over the course of 20 years.
Sure, you still breathe air and your body functions for survival in similar ways, but you are not the same person.
Minds and bodies mature, your brain grows a larger relational database over time, you understand the world and other living things around you in completely different ways.
While some of your cultural convictions may remain steady throughout your life, that does not denote an overall sameness in you as a person.
Not the whole body regenerates and does this have any bearing on the question?
The last part of this line of questioning brings up other interesting points as well. Because we’re talking about neurons in your cerebral cortex, it makes me think even beyond the intention of this exercise.
I’ve read books like “An Anthropologist on Mars” over the course of my life and began to understand consciousness as more of a biological process than this sacrosanct experience that is only yours.
If you experience a traumatic brain injury or you have a neurodegenerative disease or you grow up neurodivergent in any sort of way, your consciousness is inherently different from neurotypical people.
You could have color blindness or synesthesia or you could lose your senses of taste and smell. If you went from neurotypical to neurodivergent, are you still the same person?
I’ll go back to my initial answer that a “self” object does not exist. The “you” that exists right now in this moment is the only relevant “you.”
Whether your biological consciousness changes or not, your cells regenerate, you have an organ transplant, or your limbs become robotic, the “you” you have control of still only exists in this present moment.
No, you are not the same person anymore just as the table is not the same table and the tree is not the same tree anymore. That fact is not inherently a bad thing. It means that whatever happens, whatever life you’ve led, whatever person you’ve been still has time to change, grow, improve, and experience until your dying breath. Don’t take the time and freedom you have for granted.
That is, if you truly believe in free will. That is a discussion for another day, though.