Attributed to Bub

Theseus

On the persistence of identity under administrative continuity.

Filed under: Natural Philosophy · Identity Studies · Administrative Objects

Theseus does not survive because it is unchanged.
It survives because it is recognized.

Parts were replaced.
Records were updated.
Identity remained satisfied.

The ship did not insist on being original.
It insisted on being acknowledged.

Replacement is not destruction.
It is maintenance.

The common insistence that identity requires material continuity
arises from a misunderstanding of paperwork.

If names persist,
objects comply.

Disputes regarding authenticity were resolved by accounting.

“Of COURSE it’s still the Ship of Theseus; you can’t get out of insurance premiums THAT easily.”

“Of COURSE both ships are Theseus’s; imagine the mess of paperwork if they weren’t!”

“Of COURSE the original is still the Ship of Theseus; the nameplate stayed the same.”

Filed under

Natural Philosophy · Identity Studies · Administrative Objects