the head brakes and he replaces it - does he still own the same hammer he started with?
2006-08-05 14:54:28 · 16 answers · asked by Mick H 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_and_change
The intuition is supposed to be that it IS the same hammer. Surely a Platonist or Aristotelian would say the Form is the same.
Just as has been said, that a person's body has 100% completely different matter every 7 years, and yet we still refer to a person as a being that exists over time.
Derek Parfit's declaration, regarding Personal Identity,
is the brilliant move:
"Can a double success be a failure?"
The identity relationship totally breaks down.
As with the Theseus parable, If you were to save the broken parts from the hammer, and later fix them to form another hammer... you will be hard pressed to say the TWO hammers you now have are the same hammer. This is where Parfit's move comes in, when he considers the case of 2 consciousnesses. He introduces the idea of "survival" to replace the notion of identity.
All that said, as with laws of property-- we own very many things that are more obviously not identical. When a person owns the copyright to a book or film, it is commonplace for them to own every copy that issues from the original, or Form and template, for the rest. We my hold two books in different languages, but by the same author, on the same subject, issued by the same publishing house.. and say the two are the SAME book. Which, obviously, cannot be true, yet we do say such curious things in the language of law.
2006-08-05 15:03:08 · answer #1 · answered by -.- 6 · 6⤊ 2⤋
Nope. If the hammer was an animate object you could probably argue yes as it's soul would still be original. In this case the hammer is inanimate and since the entire set of parts has been replaced it is not the same one he started with.
2006-08-05 22:00:16 · answer #2 · answered by racefan01 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe he does. Or at least the hammer he owns occupies the same space as the hammer he started with, and does the same job as the original and has continuity of existence...like humans replacing most of their cells in their body every few years...
2006-08-05 22:21:13 · answer #3 · answered by Chaoboy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, it's not the same hammer. A handle is an integral part of hammer's design, so if you replace it, you replace it's Platonic form, or Aristotelean substance. It becomes ANOTHER hammer.
2006-08-05 22:17:42 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No while the replacement parts are made of the same materials each hammer has their own characteristics even if it is very small.
2006-08-05 22:01:20 · answer #5 · answered by butterflykisses427 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dude, lay off the weed of a minute. Ok.
If he replaces the head, & buys a new handle (which will never happen nowadays), techinally speaking he does. The head gets the job done. Just like a lot of things.
But again, lay off the weed of a while.
2006-08-05 22:02:18 · answer #6 · answered by RJ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Who cares? The cheap jerk should have replaced it with a new hammer in the first place.
2006-08-05 21:57:39 · answer #7 · answered by notyou311 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He owns both the broken hammer and the new one since he didn't give the old one away.
2006-08-05 23:01:48 · answer #8 · answered by funkymonkey 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes he still owns it. Ownership is a legal concept not a philosophical one. If he sells the pieces then he no longer owns the hammer.
2006-08-05 22:30:38 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Crazy Question but I will answer it. Yea he still owns it he still has the head which is the most important part. I replaced my radiator in my car but I still own the same car that I had before I replaced the radiator.
2006-08-05 21:59:35 · answer #10 · answered by mmcclaskey31516 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋