Question

Explain in one or two paragraphs why the Ship of Theseus example poses a difficulty to the criterion of appealing to one's Body to explain Personal Identity through time.

Answer 1

Let's have a brief idea of what 'Ship of Theseus' example relates to. The ship was kept in a museum after a battle. Over a period of time certain portion of the ship started decaying and that was replaced by a new one. A large portion of the ship was gradually replaced by new parts and the entire ship was renovated.

Now the question arises, whether it is still the original ship. Several suppositions and claims have been put for both 'for' and 'against'. This example does not go in hand when it comes to human being.

In case of human beings, an individual undergoes lot of renovations of thought. While these renovations are in place, the basic identity of the person remains unaltered. Thus Theseus example poses difficulty to correlate it with personal identity through time.