[earthboundkid]

“You, sir, have been reared in great luxury as becomes your noble birth. How did you come here, by foot or in a chariot?”

“In a chariot, venerable sir.”

“Then, explain sir, what that is. Is it the axle? Or the wheels, or the chassis, or reins, or yoke that is the chariot? Is it all of these combined, or is it something apart from them?”

“It is none of these things, venerable sir.”

“Then, sir, this chariot is an empty sound. You spoke falsely when you said that you came here in a chariot. You are a great king of India. Who are you afraid of that you don’t speak the truth?”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milinda_Panha

[chatmasta]

The Buddhist Ship of Theseus?

[earthboundkid]

It’s a little different. Theseus is about identity over time. This is about identity of wholes from parts. No part of your engine is itself an engine, nor is a collection of engine parts in the wrong arrangement an engine. You need the right parts and the right relationship between the parts. But “right relationship” is not an entity over and above the parts either.