Ship of Theseus

The ship of Theseus is a question about if you can consider that an object is the same one when you replace parts of it. It is a paradox.

For example, if you have an axe and you replace its handle, it is still the same axe? And if you replace the blade? And if you made another axe with the old handle and blade, the "real" axe is the one that has the replaced elements or the one that has the old ones?

Different people answer this question in different ways.

The name comes from a legend about ancient hero Theseus.

Ship Of Theseus Media

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  A Fresco from Pompeii depicting Theseus and Ariadne escaping from Crete. According to Plutarch, the Athenians preserved the ship that Theseus used to escape, by replacing the parts one by one as they decayed.