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What the Ship of Theseus Tells Us about Qualia

September 4, 2019

consciousness, identity, philosophy, subjectivity

If you feel helpless reading the title, bear with me. I’ll explain it all in a moment. If you do know what the “Ship of Theseus” refers to, you might still be wondering what’s the connection between the Ship of Theseus and qualia. That’s what this post attempts to ponder on.

First things first, especially for those who are not familiar with either the Ship of Theseus or qualia. That is, first let’s see some brief definitions – at this point I only offer the definitions; analysis will follow right after.

The Ship of Theseus is the name given to a thought experiment known since the 5th century BCE. It’s related to the metaphysics of identity.

Qualia is the name given to individual instances of subjective experience. When you see a red flower, the “redness of red”, the way you, specifically perceive it, is qualia.

ship of theseus qualia — This specific ship is not the Ship of Theseus, and qualia does not refer to you seeing the picture. But whether the act of “seeing the picture” can be objective, the experience of “seeing the *pictureness* of the picture” is subjective.

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Fate Leads the Willing; the Unwilling it Drags: Meaning and Significance

August 17, 2019

Philosophy

change, fate, injustice, meaning, subjectivity

What a wonderful thing to say, right? Fate leads the willing; the unwilling it drags. You might have also seen some variation of it, such as Fate leads the willing and drags along the reluctant. Originally this was written by the Roman poet Seneca – ducunt volentem fata, nolentem trahunt, if you want the Latin version.

There have been many interpretations of this short quote. After all, this is the way art operates.

For some, Seneca’s words describe something stoic, making you “suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune“.

Others perhaps might see something optimistic in it. I’ve seen at least one person having tattooed “Fate Leads the Willing” on their arm – indeed in Latin.

My personal opinion differs from both these approaches. I subscribe to neither utter stoicism nor manic optimism.

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Death Is a Perspective: from Epicurus to Schopenhauer

July 6, 2019

Philosophy

death, fear, philosophy, subjectivity, time

To say that death is a perspective might at first sound bizarre. The fear of death must be among the most powerful fears humans experience during their life (think about the irony for a second).

Whether that fear is rational or not, it’s something we’ll need to talk about. We also need to ponder on what we mean by “fear of death”. Do we refer to our death or others’? Do we refer to death or dying?

All these are valid questions – albeit, questions most people bypass as too inconvenient. These, too, are parts of the “death is a perspective” thesis. But there’s much more to it.

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