The concept of reality

Introduction

The Ship of Theseus was a concept proposed Plutarch that sought to create a better understanding of reality and how people perceive things. The argument was based on the life of Theseus and the analogy focused on the ship he used over time which had to be frequently repaired. Having seen battle, the ship often got damaged and would be repaired every now and then. Suppose that over time, all the parts that make up the ships had been repaired and replaced with new ones. From the experiment, it is clear to see how human beings may have a difficult time understanding reality especially if the information used to explain it is retrieved from the knowledge that humans gather using their senses.

Body paragraph

The experiment seeks to determine which of the two ships the original ship of Theseus is. The question then raised is whether the ship is still the same used by Theseus or is it now a totally different ship? Determining the original ship is further complicated by the added information whereby all the parts that were replaced from the ship were somehow restored and used to reconstruct the ship, which of the two ships would be the real ship of Theseus? Would it be the first ship repaired over time or the ship made from the old parts?

Argument element 1

• Piece A

The Ship of Theseus is an ideal representation of reality as it demonstrates how people’s understanding of what is real and what is not tends to contradict especially when the knowledge that is used to explained reality is derived from contradicting, yet factual resources (Wikipedia 1). The two ships cause a dilemma because they are both real and bear similarities to the original ship. Since both ships are real, it is difficult to determine which is original because they are both created to resemble the original ship. However, their resemblance to the original does not make them the original and this is the same with reality. Just because we perceive something does not make it real as our senses only draw from what we experience.

• Piece B

The true identity, if possible, can be best explained through philosophical arguments put forward by Plato especially in his attempt to explain what is really real. According to Plato, our understanding of reality and the world around us is based on the perceptions we have of what occurs in the world that we live in (Oxford 1). While that may be the case, Plato argues that what we perceive to be real, no matter how close to the truth the perception may be is not actual reality but rather an appearance of what reality may look like.

Argument element 2

• Piece A

From the experiment, the idea of reality is expounded as it becomes clear that people can have different ideas on what reality is. Take the idea of the ship as an example. Neither the repaired ship nor the reconstructed ship is the original Ship of Theseus because we only have an idea of what both ships is (White 1). Since both ideas originate from the original ship, neither of them are the actual ship because the ship of Theseus is not a physical ship but rather an idea that lost its physical form the minute repairs were made on it after Theseus stopped using it.

• Piece B

The belief that what we call reality is just an idea created by the information we collect using our senses is further demonstrated by Plato and can make it easier to understand that the original ship is not the two but the idea that people had of what used to be Theseus’ ship. Plato believes that perceiving the world through our senses only allows us to understand how reality appears to be but not its true self. Similarly, the ship perceived through the senses results in the creation of two ships, no of which are the real ship of Theseus (Gifford lectures 1). From Plato’s argument on what is really real. It is easier to note that the actual ship has no form and that the two ships are just what appears to be the real ship but not the actual ship. While the resemblance may be similar, they both have their own history and backgrounds that make them different from the original ship thus disqualifying either of them as the actual ship.

Conclusion

In conclusion, since people attach the idea of the ship to its physical form, it becomes difficult to differentiate it from the two ships reconstructed because people have a hard time believing in things that cannot take form. If viewed under Plato’s concept of reality, it becomes easier to understand that neither the repaired nor the restored ship is the original ship because Theseus’ ship is more of an idea than a physical entity. The original ship therefore lost its physical form the minute repairs were made to it especially if Theseus was not using it. Despite the resemblance, none of the two ships are the original and similar to the ships, reality is a construct that people create depending on their experiences.

 

 

 

Work cited

Corey, White J, “Ship of Theseus” 2018, retrieved from, https://coreyjwhite.com/tag/ship-of-        theseus/

Oxford University Press, “Plato: The really real” Living Philosophy, 2018, retrieved from,             https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780190628703/sr/ch4/summary/

The Gifford Lectures, “The really real” 2018, retrieved from,             https://www.giffordlectures.org/books/sense-presence-god/chapter-ii-really-real

Wikipedia, “Ship of Theseus” 2013, retrieved from,             https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_The  seus