Objects Through Time

When we consider the identity of an object through time, it leaves us with quite a puzzling dilemma. Is there something that holds an object through time, or is it a new object in every given moment of time? In the Temporal Parts theory, time is described in a way which emphasizes the fragments of time existing almost as if it’s a frame-by-frame. Each motion through time has an individual value which is aligned to create the seemingly endless reel-esque sequences of time.

When we consider a thought experiment such as the Ship of Theseus, we can imagine an object existing through time while having its parts changed out. Eventually, the whole ship is replaced with new parts, and the original “Ship of Theseus” has been replaced. With this said, when we imagine this scenario, the ship will still be identified as the Ship of Theseus. However, there is nothing empirically which defines this ship as the same Ship of Theseus. Nothing intrinsic in the ship is defining it as “The Ship of Theseus,” and therefore it is a different object, no longer the same ship. For practicality’s sake, human beings consciously attach this gathering of objects (wood, metal, cloth, etc) to this identity.

This would be an argument for Temporal Parts in time because the physical being of the object persists, and the identity of the object is a relational understanding between the person and the object. An objection of this would include the argument of the Body vs the Body-minus. If you designate a part of your body as a “body-minus,” then you’d consider the “body-minus” a part of your overall body and identity. If you sever the body-minus from the body, the body-minus remains physically the same, but it’s identity necessarily changes because it is no longer controlled by your body. It’s seemingly in this way no longer your body part, and is now just a body part. In the previous example, the ship maintains its identity throughout its parts changing, but the human body loses identity when its parts change.

My objection to that counter example is that the human body is still a relational identity between the mind-body. To the human mind, the hand for example, is only “its hand” or part of “the body” because it’s currently controlled by the mind. When the body-minus is removed, it doesn’t cease being the body-minus, but relationally it’s different since it’s no longer controlled by the mind. The identity changes because the mind previously defaulted to the hand belonging to the identity, but the mind is also capable of considering the hand, and rest of the body for that matter, as something separate than the mind itself. The body is identified as the body by the mind, and a body is just a body because of the mind. Without a mind, the body is a corpse, and then soil, dirt, food for others, etc.

When we consider this theory though, it begs the question of when exactly does an object begin to exist. Is a chair only a chair when it’s a chair, or does it maintain the fact that it was a chair though time. Is there some sort of identity which persists after the object has disappeared? If one considers the source of an object, it has a beginning as that object in time, but it was something else before hand. A wooden chair was a seed, then a tree, then logs, then planks, then a chair, and then eventually, not a chair. Is there an identity between these forms we need to consider? This is where I think reflection shows that our identity is a universal. If you follow temporal parts through time as if they’re fragments of motion, cause and effect, one may conclude a first cause. This is why I am a monist, as this implies the identity which persists through time is simply the universe itself identifying itself as objects existing in space-time.

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