Marxist philosophy be like, who fucking cares if it's the same boat, wasn't it repaired by slaves each step of the way to this question being a thing?
Ship 2.1.4 changelog:
-replaced boards on walkway
-fixed issue with rudder disconnecting from boom sail
-added additional rowing oars
-drummer's position is no longer in the way of belowdecks stairway, as this causes pathfinding issues
-reduced number of breasts on the figurehead to the correct number of two
Ship 2.1.5 changelog:
-reverted change of number of breasts on the figurehead following user feedback.
we need a three-eyed to go with our 3-breasted figurehead
So as long as you carefully document the changes to the ship, it remains the same ship. Makes sense I guess
If you gradually remove all the bits of the ship and make a new ship out of all the bits you replaced, which ship would be the original?
Neither. It was never the bits that made the ship, but the ship that was made from the bits gathered along the way
that's an "oh fuck off" question because you can't actually do that. Wearing parts would be dust, a broken board would still be broken, etc and an "all the replaced parts" reconstitution wouldn't hold its shape.
You are injecting the idea that bits are broken into the thought experiment
No part of the original question necessarily indicates any wood has rotted, you added that
Edit: no wait, I see. Some internet random in 2003 added that. Either way it's not a fundamental part of the thought experiment
I had to confirm, but it's true: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ship_of_Theseus&diff=1190157466&oldid=1154003
My computer is a ship of Theseus actually. I've had "it" for 12+ years but have swapped 3 cases, 4 motherboards, 3-5 sets of ram, 2 power supplies, 3 CPUs, etc. I actually finally got rid of the original 750GB hard drive like last year.