Prometheus Paradox

TheMadFool

Prometheus, in eternal punishment, is chained to a rock in the Caucasus, where his liver is eaten daily by an eagle,[7] only to be regenerated by night, due to his immortality. — Wikipedia

Imagine:
1. Prometheus has unlimited perfect regenerative powers
2. Prometheus is decapitated

From 1 and 2, there'll be two persons

Person A: the head regenerates the body
Person B: the body regenerates the head

Which is Prometheus?
1) Person A
2) Person B
3) Both

I think the general consensus would be
A = Prometheus because the head is regarded, with good reason, as the seat of the self/ego. So, where the head goes, Prometheus goes.

However...

In the case of person B, the body perfectly regenerates the head, down to every atom and molecule. So, B's head is identical in all respects to A's head. In other words, A = B. That makes B = Prometheus also true.

Is it then that A = B = Prometheus?
Are both A and B, Prometheus?

This seems odd. Identity is inviolably tied to unity (1). One-ness is essential for identity. The identity of a person, in this case Prometheus, has to be unique and that requires that there be only ONE Prometheus.
To explain further what I mean by the unity-identity connection, take for example a pen of a certain model. If you keep this pen with other pens of the same make, it can't be identified i.e. it loses its unique identity. That's why you can't find it. So, one-ness is absolutely necessary for identity. Prometheus has to be one.

So, which is Prometheus? Why?
1) person A
2) person B
3) Both A and B
4) Neither A nor B

Rich

How a body is able to constantly replace and repair (in some animals regenerate) itself is a fascinating topic. Body intelligence seems to be fully dispersed throughout the body and had a memory of how to create the replace and repair.

TheMadFool

How a body is able to constantly replace and repair (in some animals regenerate) itself is a fascinating topic. Body intelligence send to be fully dispersed throughout the body and had a memory of how to create the replace and repair. — Rich

Yes it is. How do you solve the paradox?

noAxioms

You've not defined a paradox. You just gave multiple choice. Pick one and stick with it.
You don't need to reach for fiction to see this. Amoebas do this every day.

Rich

↪TheMadFool

The issues with modern biology are discussed in great depth in Rupert Sheldrake's books. Here is a quick peek of his perspective. There are videos on YouTube that go deeper into his theory of Morphogenesis (distributed mind in a field). He was influenced by Bergson.

https://youtu.be/1TerTgDEgUE

TheMadFool

You've not defined a paradox. — noAxioms

In my OP I showed that neither person A nor person B have exclusive right over Prometheus' identity (because of the identical nature of their brains). It can't be both because the concept of identity is predicated on oneness. Isn't this a paradox?

TheMadFool

↪Rich

(Y) Thanks for the link

Nils Loc

The clone would acquire unique identity by the fact that both could interact with one another. There might be a battle to the death supposing that they are free for a moment or cooperate to overcome their condition.

In any case this multiplication would be a good strategy if the clones could cooperate toward finding a way out their situation.

Just by occupying a different spaces they are distinct.

TheMadFool

Just by occupying a different spaces they are distinct — Nils Loc

Ok but which one is Prometheus?

Nils Loc

Ok but which one is Prometheus? — TheMadFool

Both, either or none depending upon the arbitrary condition you impose to identify him. Let me know why this is an unsatisfying answer to the paradox.

By what principle or law is Prometheus ever identical to himself?

TheMadFool

By what principle or law is Prometheus ever identical to himself? — Nils Loc

Good question.

The law of identity (one of the three laws of thought) states that ALL things are identical to themselves i.e. A = A
A proviso, which I think is necessary, is that identity is about uniqueness and that is predicated on one-ness. Put otherwise, two or more things can't be identical to each other because then each member of such a set would lose their uniqueness and thus their identity.

Another interesting thing...

Leibniz's law in logic
1) Pm (e.g. m is good)
2) m = n (m is identical to n)
Therefore
3) Pn (n is good too)

In short, IF m = n THEN what is true of m is also true of n.

The converse however is not true:

1) X has features a, b, c, d,...
2) Y has features a, b, c, d,...
Therefore
3) X = Y (this is false)

IF X and Y have the same features THEN it isn't true that X = Y. To illustrate take 2 cars (X and Y) of the same model. They're perfectly identical in every respect BUT being two, they aren't identical i.e. they're NOT the same car.

noAxioms

What if X and Y have different features? X is 1.2 m in height and Y is 1.9 m and a different set of features. Can they be identical? If not, then I do not share identity with the child my mother raised.

Your example above (cars) are not identical since they have different location. It gets trickier when they don't.

TheMadFool

What if X and Y have different features? X is 1.2 m in height and Y is 1.9 m and a different set of features. Can they be identical? If not, then I do not share identity with the child my mother raised. — noAxioms

Personal identity is quite a complex subject. My argument skips the issue you raised and depends on uniqueness of identity.

Prometheus Paradox

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