What is the 'Ship of Theseus' Thought Experiment?

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You might have heard about the thought experiment in philosophy class involving a ship used by the hero Theseus to sail from Athens to the island of Crete where he would slay the Minotaur.

Plutarch posed a philosophical question. If one were to say replace the wooden planks of the ship little by little until the ship had none of the original planks left, is it still the same ship?

Perhaps, from the point of view of the people on the ship, they would consider it the same ship still. However, if one were to hypothetically gather all the original planks and rebuild the ship, which ship is the Ship of Theseus?

Read the discussions on this little philosophical conundrum on Live Science to find the answer, or perhaps use those as a means to arrive at an answer of your own.