The Ship of Theseus and Plato's Universalism - Essay Sample

Introduction

The ship of Theseus, also known as the Theseus Paradox is a case that is used in the analysis of theories about change (Clark). The main question that arises from the case study is whether an object (in this case a ship) remains the same if all its parts are replaced. To understand the question, it is essential to include some theories that were put forward by philosophers who had an objective of solving the case. Among those philosophers is Plato and his universalism theory and Hume who is famous for his particularism theory. This essay will focus on how the Ship of Theseus supports Plato's Universalism theory.

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A universal is a character trait or part that certain things have in common (Sloviter 21). An excellent example is two red apples in a cupboard. They both have the feature of being apples, and at the same time, they have the trait of being red. In the case of the ship of Theseus, the ship parts are replaced each at a time, for example, the wood that s rotten on the outside. The universal is that they all belong to the original ship that was presented earlier. They share the quality of belonging to the first ship. In his theory, Plato suggests that the objects that have a universal are similar. In this case, the ship that has all the parts replaced is the same as the original ship that has its parts intact since they share a universal. The error in this argument is whether the common trait can be applied if all the elements that the original ship contains are replaced. The parts that may come later after the other parts have been removed may not have the link to the first ship which makes the theory contradictory.

In Plato's theory, the inherence that the replaced ship has to the original ship is what makes it similar. Inherence is the relation that a specific quality has to its subject (Owen 102). In the ship of Theseus, the inherent trait is the relation between the original ship and the one that has its parts replaced. The attribute of belonging serves as a link between the original ship and the replaced one. It is this inherence that makes the repaired ship similar to the original according to Plato. The critic of this is that the two objects may share a particular trait that links them together but at the same time be different compared to each other. Each thing has a specific set of characteristics that make it unique and not similar to any other (Michael, 543).

Conclusion

Plato's theory is applicable in the Theseus Ship, and it argues that the first ship is similar to the repaired ship because they have the same universal and also have an inherence to each other. The paradox has led many scholars into analyzing the case to try and come up with proper means to solve it. As a result, many theories have come up and among the major ones is Plato's Theory of Universalism and Humes Theory of Particularism. On proper analysis, the ship remains the same even after its parts have been changed. As long as there is the attachment to the original ship in any way, the vessel remains the same. There are several attachments that the repaired ship has such as shape, and the size should also be the same since the repairs are made to fit on the original ship, the fact that the repaired ship has parts that were from the original ship among others. It is these traits that cause inherence to the original vessel.

Works Cited

Clark, Michael. Paradoxes from A to Z. Routledge, 2007.

Owen, Gwilym Ellis Lane. "Inherence." Phronesis (1965): 97-105.

Rea, Michael C. "The problem of material constitution." The Philosophical Review 104.4 (1995): 525-552.

Sloviter, Robert S. "Apoptosis: a guide for the perplexed." Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 23.1 (2002): 19-24.