[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-51969-en":3,"doc-seo-51969-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},51969,549758252649,"Ivy","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/8000253669c5317157?_k=1778319167496531819",8,"Research & Report","Aquinas and the Ship of Theseus: Solving Puzzles About Material Objects","Aquinas and the Ship of Theseus examines how classical puzzles about material objects challenge common-sense views of identity, constitution, and change. Christopher M. Brown presents the Problem of Material Constitution (PMC), reviews major contemporary solutions, and then develops a Thomistic framework using Aquinas’s accounts of substances, material substance, composition, and individuation across time. The book responds to objections and applies a Thomistic approach to Ship of Theseus and related puzzles, including the Debtor’s Paradox and Tibbles the Cat.","Aquinas and the Ship of Theseus:  \nSolving Puzzles About Material Objects  \nCHRISTOPHER M. BROWN  \nContinuum  \nAQUINAS AND THE SHIP OF THESEUS  \nContinuum Studies in Philosophy:  \nSeries Editor: James Fieser, University of Tennessee at Martin  \nAndrew Fiala, Tolerance and the Ethical Life Christopher M. Brown, Aquinas and the Ship of Theseus Alexander W. Hall, Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus Robert Dyson, St Augustine of Hippo  \nTammy Nyden-Bullock, Spinoza’s Radical Cartesian Mind Daniel Whiting, The Philosohy of John McDowell  \nAQUINAS AND THE SHIP OF THESEUS SOLVING PUZZLES ABOUT MATERIAL OBJECTS  \nCHRISTOPHER M. BROWN  \nContinuum  \nThe Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX  \n15 East 26th Street, New York, NY 10010  \n& Christopher M. Brown 2005  \nAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.  \nBritish Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data  \nA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.  \nISBN: HB: 0–8264–7828–X  \nLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record is available from the Library of Congress.  \nTypeset by Aarontype Limited, Easton, Bristol  \nPrinted and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall  \nCONTENTS  \nPreface vii  \nList of Abbreviations x  \n1 The Problem of Material Constitution (PMC) 1  \nCommon-sense intuitions about compound material objects 2  \nThe Ship of Theseus and the PMC 4  \nSolving the PMC: a glance at the contemporary approaches 5  \n2 Three Contemporary Approaches to Solving the PMC 16  \nLynne Rudder Baker’s constitution view 16  \nPeter van Inwagen on composition, eliminativism and the PMC 24  \nThe Zimmerman Argument 32  \n3 Aquinas on Material Substances 48  \nAquinas on the nature of substances 48  \nAquinas on the nature of material substances 57  \nAquinas on the extension of‘material substance’ 59  \n4 Aquinas on the Composition of Material Objects 68  \nAquinas on the di¡erent ways that material objects are composed 68  \nAquinas on the composition of material substances 71  \nAquinas on artefacts and composition 98  \n5 Aquinas on Identity, Individuation and Material Composition 113  \nAquinas on the identity of material substances through time  \nand change 113  \nAquinas on the individuation of material substances 124  \nAquinas on the identity and individuation of artefacts 130  \n6 Aquinas and the Problem of Material Constitution 144  \nThe Ship of Theseus puzzle 144  \nThe Debtor’s Paradox 150  \nThe Growing Argument 155  \nvi Contents  \nThe Puzzle of Tibbles the Cat 157  \nThe Lumpl/Goliath puzzle 160  \nThe advantage of a Thomistic approach to the PMC 162  \n7 Answering Objections to the Thomistic Approach to the PMC 168  \nAquinas and Baker: the advantages ofa mitigated ontological pluralism 168  \nAquinas and Van Inwagen: defending the reality of non-living material substances 172  \nThe Zimmerman Argument: a Thomistic response 176  \nSelect Bibliography 183  \nIndex 189  \nPREFACE  \nIn the last twenty-¢ve years a number of philosophers have argued that classical puzzles about material objects such as the Ship of Theseus show that our common-sense intuitions about compound material objects are logically incompatible with one another. It seems to these philosophers that we have to either give up one of our common beliefs about material objects or else give up reasoning about material objects altogether. Although there are a number of solutions to Ship of Theseus-style puzzles that have garnered support among contemporary analytic philosophers, virtually all of these solutions argue for the rejection of a common-sense intuition about material objects. Whatever else may be said therefore in defence of these particular solutions, they allentail revising our common-sense understanding of a material object.  \nOne w","cbCaidawakUC4D3E","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidawakUC4D3E","pdf",2224766,5,1,205,"English","en",105,"# The Problem of Material Constitution (PMC)\n## Common-sense intuitions about compound material objects\n## The Ship of Theseus and the PMC\n## Solving the PMC: a glance at the contemporary approaches\n# Three Contemporary Approaches to Solving the PMC\n## Lynne Rudder Baker’s constitution view\n## Peter van Inwagen on composition, eliminativism and the PMC\n## The Zimmerman Argument","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the book address regarding material objects?\",\"answer\":\"The book addresses the Problem of Material Constitution (PMC), focusing on how common-sense intuitions about compound material objects are treated as conflicting when explaining identity and change.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the author use Aquinas to address Ship of Theseus-style puzzles?\",\"answer\":\"The author argues that Aquinas’s metaphysics of material objects allows construction of Thomistic solutions to Ship of Theseus-style puzzles without requiring rejection of common-sense intuitions.\"},{\"question\":\"What are some key philosophical areas Aquinas’s view is applied to in the book?\",\"answer\":\"The book applies Thomistic resources across chapters on substances, material substances, composition of material objects, and identity and individuation through time, then uses them to answer objections and analyze multiple puzzles.\"}]",1783635641,517,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":28},"aquinas-and-the-ship-of-theseus-solving-puzzles-about-material-objects","",{"@graph":36,"@context":86},[37,54,69],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/aquinas-and-the-ship-of-theseus-solving-puzzles-about-material-objects/51969/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-22","2026-07-09",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"What problem does the book address regarding material objects?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"The book addresses the Problem of Material Constitution (PMC), focusing on how common-sense intuitions about compound material objects are treated as conflicting when explaining identity and change.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"How does the author use Aquinas to address Ship of Theseus-style puzzles?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"The author argues that Aquinas’s metaphysics of material objects allows construction of Thomistic solutions to Ship of Theseus-style puzzles without requiring rejection of common-sense intuitions.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"What are some key philosophical areas Aquinas’s view is applied to in the book?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"The book applies Thomistic resources across chapters on substances, material substances, composition of material objects, and identity and individuation through time, then uses them to answer objections and 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