ABSTRACT
But what if we have the reconstituted ship, B, as well? Until it is largely reconstituted we still have only one ship, which does not suffer any break in its continuity. If the reconstituted ship is identical with the original, when did A, the ship which had its planks replaced, cease to be the original ship? Did the original ship suddenly switch to becoming the reconstituted one or was there a break in continuity? These problems are not, however, an insuperable difficulty for the option that B is the same as the original ship, A. For there need be no determinate time at which the switch occurs, any more than there is any determinate time, except in law, at which a child becomes an adult. As for discontinuity, if I
completely dismantle my car and then put it together again, I still have my original car. Even so, it seems more natural to identify A with Theseus’ original ship in the situation we have described.
