今早我看見一隻鳥站在街燈上，若每盞街燈也有一隻了站在上面，一定很有趣。
那是甚麼鳥？我不知道，也不在意。
或者我不在意那是不是一隻鳥。
鳥是甚麼？甚麼是鳥？怎樣看來才是一隻鳥？
我眼見過的鳥都與書本上的不同，小時候我是怎樣學會看見一物能分辨它/牠是不是一隻鳥？
有翅膀的是鳥。但若翅膀給剪了，我還是會說那是折了翼的鳥，還是鳥。(奇異鳥還沒有翅膀)
有尖嘴的是鳥。但若尖嘴給磨了，我還是會說那是斷了嘴的鳥，還是鳥。
有兩腳的是鳥。但若兩腳給砍了，我還是會說那是沒了腿的鳥，還是鳥。
問題不是生物學上怎樣分辨那是鳥那不是，而是我到底怎樣分辨那是鳥那不是。
我憑眼見的甚麼說那是鳥？
不禁非常疑惑。
i think u must have encountered this paradox in ur philosophy course...
ReplyDeleteShip of Theseus
According to Greek legend as reported by Plutarch,
"The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned [from Crete] had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place, insomuch that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.”
Plutarch thus questions whether the ship would remain the same if it was entirely replaced, piece by piece. As a corollary, one can question what happens if the replaced parts were used to build a second ship. Which, if either, is the original Ship of Theseus?
I did. That was talking about Personal Identity. Slightly different is, I am not talking about whether is the same ship or not, but what actually make me think it is a ship. Say it's not about identity, but about identifying. You have a personal idenitity or not does nothing when I am identifying "this object is a human being". You understand what I mean?
ReplyDeleteSay birds, they all have different shape, colour, voice, etc. There are no two identical birds. How do I know something is a bird when I see it? It's purely by the phenotypes (I don't think I can see thier genotypes).
ReplyDeleteOur impression of a thing is collective, but it must be more complicate than we can imagine. It's not just shape, colour, voice. We can even identify a three-dimensional object if we have seen some two-dimensional pictures of that object! It's just amazing when you think about it.
yea i know what you mean... but just that when i read your post it reminds me of this little paradox, that's why i brought it up ;)
ReplyDelete