Which one is it?
This week's thought experiment is another one about identity. See what you think of it.
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This is not what Ray North had bargained for. As an international master criminal he prided himself on being able to get the job done. His latest client had demanded that he steal the famous yacht Theseus, the vessel from which British newspaper magnate Lucas Grub had thrown himself to his death and which more recently had been the scene of the murder of LA rapper Daddy Iced Tea.
But here he was in the dry dock where the boat had just finished being repaired, confronted by two seemingly identical yachts. North turned to the security man, who was being held at gunpoint by one of his cronies.
"If you want to live, you'd better tell me which one of these is the real Theseus," demanded Ray.
"That kinda depends," came the nervous reply. "You see, when we started to repair the ship, we needed to replace lots of parts. Only, we kept all the old parts. But as the work progressed, we ended up replacing virtually everything. When we had finished, some guys thought it would be good to use all the old parts to reconstruct another version of the ship. So that's what we've got. On the left, the Theseus repaired with new parts, and on the right, the Theseus restored from old parts."
"But which one is the genuine Theseus?" demanded Ray.
"I've told you all I know!" screamed the guard, as the crony tightened his grip. Ray scratched his head and started to think about how he could get away with both...
Baggini, J., The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, 2005, p. 31.
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So which one would you take? I'll be back on Friday with my answer.
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This is not what Ray North had bargained for. As an international master criminal he prided himself on being able to get the job done. His latest client had demanded that he steal the famous yacht Theseus, the vessel from which British newspaper magnate Lucas Grub had thrown himself to his death and which more recently had been the scene of the murder of LA rapper Daddy Iced Tea.
But here he was in the dry dock where the boat had just finished being repaired, confronted by two seemingly identical yachts. North turned to the security man, who was being held at gunpoint by one of his cronies.
"If you want to live, you'd better tell me which one of these is the real Theseus," demanded Ray.
"That kinda depends," came the nervous reply. "You see, when we started to repair the ship, we needed to replace lots of parts. Only, we kept all the old parts. But as the work progressed, we ended up replacing virtually everything. When we had finished, some guys thought it would be good to use all the old parts to reconstruct another version of the ship. So that's what we've got. On the left, the Theseus repaired with new parts, and on the right, the Theseus restored from old parts."
"But which one is the genuine Theseus?" demanded Ray.
"I've told you all I know!" screamed the guard, as the crony tightened his grip. Ray scratched his head and started to think about how he could get away with both...
Baggini, J., The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, 2005, p. 31.
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So which one would you take? I'll be back on Friday with my answer.
