Who Am I? A Philosophical Inquiry

This video delves into the philosophical question of identity, exploring the complexities of self-perception and the persistence of identity through the famous Ship of Theseus paradox. It challenges viewers to consider what constitutes the 'self' and how identity is maintained or altered over time.

Pause the video now if you want to read the entire transcript. Pause the video now if you want to read the entire transcript. Pause the video now if you want to read the entire transcript. Throughout the history of mankind, three little words have sent poets to the blank page, philosophers to the agora, and seekers to the oracles: Who am I? From the ancient Greek aphorism inscribed on the Temple of Apollo, "Know thyself," to The Who's rock anthem, "Who are you?" philosophers, psychologists, academics, scientists, artists, theologians, and politicians have all tackled the subject of identity. Their hypotheses are widely varied and lack significant consensus. These are smart, creative people, so what's so hard about coming up with the right answer? One challenge certainly lies with the complex concept of the persistence of identity. Which "you" is "who"? The person you are today, five years ago? Who you'll be in 50 years? And when is "am"? This week? Today? This hour? This second? And which aspect of you is "I"? Are you your physical body? Your thoughts and feelings? Your actions? These murky waters of abstract logic are tricky to navigate, and so it's probably fitting that to demonstrate the complexity, the Greek historian Plutarch used the story of a ship. How are you "I"? As the tale goes, Theseus, the mythical founder-king of Athens, single-handedly slayed the evil Minotaur at Crete, then returned home on a ship. To honor this heroic feat, for 1,000 years Athenians painstakingly maintained his ship in the harbor and annually reenacted his voyage. Whenever a part of the ship was worn or damaged, it was replaced with an identical piece of the same material, until at some point, no original parts remained. Plutarch noted the ship of Theseus was an example of the philosophical paradox revolving around the persistence of identity. How can every single part of something be replaced, yet it still remains the same thing? Let's imagine there are two ships: the ship that Theseus docked in Athens, ship A, and the ship sailed by the Athenians 1,000 years later, ship B. Very simply, our question is this: Does A equal B? Some would say that for 1,000 years there has been only one ship of Theseus, and because the changes made to it happened gradually, it never, at any point in time, stopped being the legendary ship. Though they have absolutely no parts in common, the two ships are numerically identical, meaning one and the same, so A equals B. However, others could argue that Theseus never set foot on ship B, and his presence on the ship is an essential qualitative property of the ship of Theseus. It cannot survive without him. So, though the two ships are numerically identical, they are not qualitatively identical. Thus, A does not equal B. But what happens when we consider this twist? What if, as each piece of the original ship was cast off, somebody collected them all and rebuilt the entire original ship?