ABSTRACT
This chapter contains a very brief introduction to persistence, followed by an example. It is followed by a short discussion and then a series of questions. The example is an exercise in thought. The basic challenge faced by any theory of persistence is to give an account of how one thing can stay itself, that is, stay the very same thing over a period of time whilst also changing the properties that it has. The questions discussed in the chapter are intended to get the philosophy students thinking about the problems. They have used these kinds of questions in seminars as the questions set for seminars, so they also think that they can be used to spark conversation and discussion. The chapter also gives a cursory sketch of some of the ways in which philosophers have responded to the thought experiment.
