A situationalist solution to the Ship of Theseus Puzzle

Journal article

This paper outlines a novel solution to the Ship of Theseus puzzle. The solution relies on situations, a philosophical tool used in natural language semantics among other places. The core idea is that what is true is always relative to the situation under consideration. I begin by outlining the problem before briefly introducing situations. I then present the solution: in smaller situations (containing only one of the candidate ships for identity with Theseus’s ship) the candidate is identical to Theseus’s ship. But in larger situations containing both candidates these identities are neither true nor false. Finally, I discuss some worries for the view that arise from the nature of identity, and suggest responses. It is concluded that the solution, and the theory that underpins it, are worth further investigation.

Authors: Pickup, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Journal: Erkenntnis
• Volume: 81
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 973–992
• Publication date: 2015-10-03
• DOI: 10.1007/s10670-015-9777-3
• EISSN: 1572-8420
• ISSN: 0165-0106
• Keywords: SBTMR