The Ship of Theseus
Thought Experiment
忒修斯之船 思想实验
By Bethany Williams
The Ship of Theseus, otherwise known as Theseus’ Paradox, is a thought experiment that continues to be a popular topic in philosophy today.
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1. The Ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus’ Paradox, is a fascinating thought experiment that has intrigued scholars for centuries. It raises thought-provoking questions about the concept of identity over time. Imagine a scenario where each part of a ship is gradually replaced, one at a time. The fundamental inquiry emerges: Is the vessel that remains after all the replacements the same ship as the one that existed before? Delve into this ancient puzzle and explore the enduring debates it continues to spark.
忒修斯之船，也被称为忒修斯悖论，作为一个迷人的思想实验在几个世纪以来一直吸引着学者们的兴趣。随着时间的推移，它提出了关于身份概念的发人深省的问题。想象一下这样一个场景，一艘船的每个部分都被逐渐替换，一次一个。一个基本的问题出现了:在所有的替换之后，剩下的船还是以前存在的那艘船吗？深入研究这个古老的谜题，探索它继续引发的持久争论。
Ship of Theseus: The Myth Behind the Paradox
忒修斯之船:悖论背后的神话
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2. To begin with, it may be of interest to explore the myth surrounding the Ship of Theseus.
Theseus was a young prince of Athens in Ancient Greece. He was raised away from the kingdom by his mother, Aethra. Upon coming of age, he was told of his true identity as heir to the Athenian throne, and so he set out to claim his birth-right. Reaching Athens, he wanted to find ways of proving his worthiness of succeeding to the throne. To his dismay, he found that the King of Athens, Aegeus, was paying a terrible tribute to the King of Crete, King Minos because he had lost a war to Minos previously.
首先，探索围绕忒修斯之船的神话可能是有趣的。忒修斯是古希腊雅典的一位年轻王子。他被母亲艾瑟拉带离王国。成年后，他被告知他作为雅典王位继承人的真实身份，所以他开始要求他的出生权。到达雅典后，他想找到方法来证明他继承王位的价值。令他沮丧的是，他发现雅典的国王埃勾斯正在向克里特岛的国王弥诺斯进贡一份很重的贡品，因为他先前输给了弥诺斯。
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3. The tribute was seven girls and seven boys, who were given up to King Minos, to be put in a dangerous Labyrinth, impossible to navigate, and roamed by a ferocious monster, the Minotaur. The Minotaur was a half-man, half-bull, a mythical creature that would devour the boys and girls. Theseus volunteered as tribute to be among the seven boys who were given up to King Minos each year. Theseus had big plans; he wanted to kill the Minotaur, save the children, and stop the tribute.
贡品是七个女孩和七个男孩，他们被交给国王弥诺斯，被放入一个危险的迷宫，无法导航，被一个凶猛的怪物弥诺陶洛斯漫游。弥诺陶洛斯是一个半人半牛的神话生物，它会吞噬男孩和女孩。忒修斯自愿成为每年献给弥诺斯国王的七个男孩中的一员。忒修斯有伟大的计划；他想杀死牛头怪，救孩子，并停止朝贡。
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4. Here comes the first instance of the ship. King Aegeus was very sad about his son, Theseus, setting sail to potential death, so Theseus promised his father that if he should return, the ship would show white sails. If he perished, the sails would show their normal color, black.
这是这艘船的第一个实例。国王埃勾斯对他的儿子忒修斯出航潜在的死亡感到非常难过，所以忒修斯答应他的父亲，如果他应该返回，船会显示白帆。如果他死了，船帆会显示正常的黑色。
The Ship Of Theseus: Adventures In The Aegean
忒修斯之船:爱琴海历险记
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5. Theseus and the other girls and boys set sail to Crete on their ship, which would be known as the Ship of Theseus. They disembarked at Crete and held an audience with the royal family. Here is where Theseus met Ariadne, the princess of Crete, and the two fell madly in love.
忒修斯和其他女孩和男孩乘坐他们的船起航到克里特岛，这艘船被称为忒修斯之船。他们在克里特岛下船，谒见了王室成员。忒修斯在这里遇到了克里特岛公主阿里阿德涅，两人疯狂相爱。
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6. In a secret meeting before entering the maze, Ariadne slipped a ball of thread and a sword to Theseus. He used these gifts to escape, using the sword to kill the Minotaur, and the string to guide himself back out of the maze. Theseus, the other tributes, and Ariadne snuck back onto the ship and set sail to Athens before King Minos could figure out what they had done.
在进入迷宫前的一次秘密会议中，阿里阿德涅塞给忒修斯一团线和一把剑。他利用这些礼物逃跑，用剑杀死了牛头怪，用绳子指引自己走出迷宫。忒修斯、其他贡品和阿里阿德涅偷偷溜回船上，在弥诺斯国王发现他们的所作所为之前起航前往雅典。
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7. Along the way, the ship of Theseus stopped at the island of Naxos. Here, the story varies in many versions, but Ariadne was left behind, and Theseus left for Athens without her. Ariadne later married the god Dionysus. In distress or ignorance, Theseus then forgot to change the color of the sail, so it remained black. Upon seeing the black sails, King Aegeus was deeply distraught and threw himself from a cliff into the Aegean waters below.
一路上，忒修斯的船停在了纳克索斯岛。在这里，这个故事有很多版本，但阿里阿德涅被留下了，忒修斯没有带她去雅典。阿里阿德涅后来嫁给了酒神狄俄尼索斯。出于苦恼或无知，忒修斯于是忘了改变船帆的颜色，所以它仍然是黑色的。看到黑帆后，国王埃勾斯悲痛欲绝，从悬崖上纵身跳入下面的爱琴海中。
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8. Theseus disembarked from the ship and heard the news of his father’s death. He was very upset but took on the mantle to be the next King of Athens. Then, according to Plutarch, the Ship of Theseus was stored in a museum in Athens, to be a reminder of Theseus’ miraculous feats, and the tragedy of King Aegeus.
忒修斯下船，听到父亲去世的消息。他非常沮丧，但还是继承了王位，成为下一任雅典国王。根据普鲁塔克的说法，忒修斯的船被存放在雅典的一个博物馆里，以此来纪念忒修斯的奇迹和国王埃勾斯的悲剧。