忒修斯之船疑难的消解:经典方案反思与新路径建构

The Resolution of the Ship of Theseus Puzzle:Reflections on the Classic Solutions and Construction of a New Approach

“唯靠X和Y原则”和“最佳候选者理论”是忒修斯之船疑难的两类经典消解方案,二者各执一端,无论从本体论还是认识论视角看都存有不足。跟随亚里士多德的观点并加以修正,将形式因和质料因看作忒修斯之船的本质属性,从本体论视角看,拆装船与原船“同一”,修补船与原船“相同”但不“同一”;从意向性指称理论视角看,原船、修补船与拆装船的同一性判定往往受认知主体的意图和意向性影响并随之改变;从作为内在因素的本质属性与作为外在因素的意图、意向性两方面来衡量,二者在不同情境下作用力大小不同,产生的合力不同,引发的判断自然有所不同。由此,就可以有效地弥补经典消解方案的不足,同时合理地修正“否定忒修斯之船本体同一”和“否定存在本体同一标准”的认识。

"The Only X and Y Principle"and"the Best Candidate Theory"are two kinds of solutions to the Ship of Theseus Puzzle,which are defective from the view of ontology and epistemology.Following Aristotle(and a revision of his theory),we see the formal cause and material cause as inherent features of the ship of Theseus and regard the inherent features as internal factors for the judgment of object's identity over time.Hence,the reconstructed ship is identical to the original ship,while the repaired ship is just the same as the original ship.Based on the theory of intentional reference,we regard the agent's intention or intentionality as external factors for the judgment of object's identity over time.It is not difficult to find that in different situations the internal and external factors play different roles,resulting in different judgments.Hence,we can remedy the deficiencies of the two solutions above,while correcting the misconceptions which deny the ontological identity of the ship of Theseus and the nonexistence of ontological identity criterion.