Who am I? A philosophical inquiry - Amy Adkins

Translator: Hekim Atay Reviewer: Daban Q Jaff

Throughout the history of mankind,

Di dîroka mirovatiyê de

three little words have sent poets to the blank page,

sê peyvan, berê helbestvanan da kaxizan,

philosophers to the Agora,

yê feylesofan da Agorayê û yê lêkolîneran da kehanetan;

and seekers to the oracles:

"Kî me ez?"

"Who am I?"

From the ancient Greek aphorism inscribed on the Temple of Apollo,

Ji Yewnana kevnar, nivîsara li ser perestgeha Apollo,

"Know thyself,"

"xwe bizane" bigire

to The Who's rock anthem, "Who Are You?"

heta marşa The Who rock "tu kî yî?"

philosophers, psychologists, academics,

feylesof, psîkolog, akademîsyen

scientists, artists, theologians and politicians

zanist, hunermend, teolog û siyasetmedar

have all tackled the subject of identity.

hemû li ser nasnavê kûr bûn.

Their hypotheses are widely varied and lack significant consensus.

Hîpotezên wan cur bi cur bûn û ne di heman fikrî de bûn.

These are smart, creative people,

Ku wisa be, dîtina bersiva rast çima ev qas dijwar e?

so what's so hard about coming up with the right answer?

One challenge certainly lies

Yek ji dijwariyan, bêguman

with the complex concept of the persistence of identity.

berdewamiya nasnamê ye.

Which you is who?

Kîjan tu yî, tu yî?

The person you are today?

Yê îro?

Five years ago?

Yê pênc sal berê?

Who you'll be in 50 years?

di 50 salî de tu yê bibî kî?

And when is "am"?

û kengî "ez" im??

This week?

Ev hefte?

Today?

Îro?

This hour?

Di vê saetê de?

This second?

Ev kêlî?

And which aspect of you is "I"?

Û kîjan awirê te ê te ye?

Are you your physical body?

Tu beden î?

Your thoughts and feelings?

Tu raman û hest î?

Your actions?

Tu tevgerên xwe yî?

These murky waters of abstract logic are tricky to navigate,

Di ava şêlî ya hişê razber de, dîtina rê dijwar e,

and so it's probably fitting that to demonstrate the complexity,

Lewma dîroknas Plutarch ji bo vê tevliheviyê

the Greek historian Plutarch used the story of a ship.

qala çîroka keştiyekê dike.

How are you "I"?

Tu çawa tu yî?

As the tale goes, Theseus, the mythical founder King of Athens,

Damezirênerê efsaneyê Atînayê Theseus,

single-handedly slayed the evil Minotaur at Crete,

Minotaurê xirab yê li Girîtê bi tena serê xwe ser jê dike

then returned home on a ship.

û bi keştiyê vedigere.

To honor this heroic feat,

Ji bo rûmeta vê lehengiyê

for 1000 years Athenians painstakingly maintained his ship in the harbor,

Atînayî bi 1000 salan, keştî li lîmanê digirin,

and annually reenacted his voyage.

û wan her sal rêwîtiya wê dubare kirin.

Whenever a part of the ship was worn or damaged,

Kîngê dereke keştiyê birize û bişkê,

it was replaced with an identical piece of the same material

bi parçeyekê ku ji heman materyalê pêk tê, vediguhastin,

until, at some point, no original parts remained.

heta ku ti parçeyên orjînal neman.

Plutarch noted the Ship of Theseus

Plutarch, digot ku keştiya Theseus,

was an example of the philosophical paradox

mînaka paradoksa felsefî ya berdewamiya kesayetê ye ku

revolving around the persistence of identity.

tim li der û dora xwe dizivire.

How can every single part of something be replaced,

Her parçeyên tiştekî were veguhastin,

yet it still remains the same thing?

Çawa ew hê jî heman tişt e?

Let's imagine there are two ships:

Em bifikirin ku du keştî hene:

the ship that Theseus docked in Athens, Ship A,

Keştiya ku Theseus anîbû Atînayê: Keştiya A

and the ship sailed by the Athenians 1000 years later, Ship B.

û ya din 1000 sal e ku hêla Atînayiyan ve tê bikaranîn, Keşiya B.

Very simply, our question is this: does A equal B?

Bi hêsanî pirsa me ev e: A yeksanê Byê ye?

Some would say that for 1000 years there has been only one Ship of Theseus,

Hin kes dê bibêjin, di 1000 salî de tenê yek keştî hebû û

and because the changes made to it happened gradually,

veguhastinên hatine kirin,

it never at any point in time stopped being the legendary ship.

wê ji keştiya efsaneyî dernaxe.

Though they have absolutely no parts in common,

Bi her aliyan ve nebe jî, bi hejmarî eynî ne,

the two ships are numerically identical, meaning one and the same,

ango A yeksanê Byê ye.

so A equals B.

However, others could argue that Theseus never set foot on Ship B,

Lê yên din dikarin îdia bikin ku Theseus qet neketiya Keştiya B'yê,

and his presence on the ship is an essential qualitative property

û hebûna wê, girîngiya milkiyeta keştiya Theseus e.

of the Ship of Theseus.

It cannot survive without him.

Bêyî wê nikare bijî.

So, though the two ships are numerically identical,

Ango, her du keştî bi hejmarî yeksan in,

they are not qualitatively identical.

lê ne bi wateyî.

Thus, A does not equal B.

û A yeksanê Byê nîn e.

But what happens when we consider this twist?

Em A û B bikin du keştî, dê çi be?

What if, as each piece of the original ship was cast off,

Ku yekî, her parçeyên orjînal berhev kiribe

somebody collected them all, and rebuilt the entire original ship?

û keştiya orjînal ji nû ve çêkiribe?

When it was finished, undeniably two physical ships would exist:

Dawiyê du heb keştî dê hebûna:

the one that's docked in Athens,

Keştiya li Atînayê,

and the one in some guy's backyard.

û keştiya pişt hewşa malê.

Each could lay claim to the title, "The Ship of Theseus,"

Herdu keştî jî navê "Keştiya Theseus" heq dikin,

but only would could actually be the real thing.

Lê bi tenê yek rast e.

A rastî kîjan e û vê girîngtir

So which one is it,

and more importantly, what does this have to do with you?

çi têkiliya vê bi we re heye?

Like the Ship of Theseus,

Mîna Keştiya Theseus

you are a collection of constantly changing parts:

perçeyên we tim diguherin,

your physical body, mind, emotions, circumstances, and even your quirks,

bedena we, hiş, hest, merç, heta ku axaftina we,

always changing, but still in an amazing and sometimes illogical way,

Lê ya ecêb, hûn dîsa heman kes in.

you stay the same, too.

This is one of the reasons that the question, "Who am I?" is so complex.

Ev jî nîşan dike ku pirsa "Kî me ez"ê pirr tevlihev e.

Ji bo bersivê,

And in order to answer it,

like so many great minds before you,

mîna zanyarên berê we, hewce ye

you must be willing to dive into the bottomless ocean of philosophical paradox.

hûn dilxwaz bin ku bikevin nava vê felsefeya paradoksa bêserûbin.

Or maybe you could just answer,

An jî belkî ev bersiv:

"I am a legendary hero sailing a powerful ship on an epic journey."

"Ez lehengekî me û di keştiyeke bi hêz de me"

Ev jî pêkan e.

That could work, too.