AN: This is just a quick oneshot I wrote on a whim about the philosophical question of Theseus's ship. When we went over this question in class it was phrased as I put it in the story and I came to the same conclusion as Phoenix XP My teacher just kind of looked at me, not expecting that answer obviously. Anyways, there isn't much plot to this, but hopefully you still enjoy reading it. :D
"Daddy?" A fourteen year old Trucy Wright held a textbook and binder to her chest as she approached her adoptive father.
"Hey Truce, what's the matter?" Phoenix set his spreadsheet down. He had been trying to pay the water bill before Trucy had interrupted him. Not that he minded of course.
"English homework." She dropped the book onto the table and opened it to a page toward the middle of it. "My teacher gave us this problem to 'ponder'." Phoenix looked at the words she was pointing at and read them aloud.
"This is Theseus's ship." Next to the words was a picture of a ship. "Its mast, sails, and all of the planks have been replaced. This is Theseus's ship." He paused for a few moments. "…What?"
"That's what I said! How can it be this guy's ship if everything's been replaced?" Trucy put her hands on her hips and looked a little irritated.
"I think that's the point, Truce. It's a philosophical question of whether or not this is actually still Theseus's ship, even with all the parts replaced."
"Well…" She put a finger up to her chin and upon coming to an answer smiled. "No."
"Wrong."
"Wha-?"
"I bet everyone in that classroom with you will say the exact same thing."
"So? Great minds think alike!"
"If all of you have the same answer the teacher will not be happy, especially from what you've told me about this one. He wants to have a discussion about it."
"But there's no other way for it to be the same ship!" Trucy protested.
"You've got to think outside the box. Instead of thinking 'Is this the same ship?' you should think 'How could this possibly be the same ship?'"
"Uh, they refurbished the wrong ship?"
"Nope." Phoenix smirked slightly as his daughter racked her brain. After a while she simply asked.
"What's the answer, daddy?"
He sighed. "I wouldn't normally do this, but just this once won't hurt." He pointed at the textbook page. "It never says when any of this was changed about the ship and that's the key. What if this stuff was replaced before Theseus came into ownership of the boat!"
Trucy held a hand over her mouth in shock. "You're right!" She hugged Phoenix and gathered her school materials. "Thank you so much daddy. I'm sure Mr. Smith will love this answer." With that Trucy ran back to her room, leaving Phoenix to smirk confidently about himself. He came up with the best answers sometimes.