Is a ship the parts of which have been completely replaced the same ship?

Position Paper Details (
Paper Details (Due Friday, December 17)
Attached Files:
Sample Position Paper-Free Will and God.pdf
Sample Position Paper-Free Will and God.pdf – Alternative Formats
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Please check the syllabus & schedule tab for submission and for further details. A sample paper is attached. Position paper questions can include, but are not limited to:
Is a ship the parts of which have been completely replaced the same ship?
If a human being steps into a teleporter and the matter of the human being is destroyed, but the human being is instantly rebuilt somewhere else, with no memory gap, is it the same person?
Are our senses trustworthy sources of knowledge about the world?
Can we come to absolutely certain knowledge of anything?
What are the limits of the empirical sciences?
Does every rational human action aim at some good?
Do all human beings seek happiness?
Is human thought something more than chemicals?
Is human free will something more than chemicals?
Whether there is a legitimate foundation to human rights discoverable by reason alone?
Whether human rights can ever be violated?
Are all human beings equal?
Is it ever permissible to do evil in order that something good might come of it?
Whether the maximum total amount of pleasure is the ultimate good?
Whether the point of the state is the happiness of its people?
Whether there is a legitimate foundation of political power?
Whether it is ever morally permissible to deliberately kill noncombatants in war (such as with nuclear weapons)?
Whether God exist?

All of these and more philosophical topics are free for your exploration. Notice that there are no normal political or legal questions. This is not about what is right or best for America or even the world; these are all questions about reality itself or morality itself. Do not frame your questions as legal or public policy questions. If you are doing a politics or morality question the question is not “should the law of the US be this way?” or “is it constitutional?” The question must be “is it true?” or “is it morally correct?” and why.

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