You seem to be promoting some form of idealism based in principles of Eastern philosophy/religion. I don't know what my stance is, exactly, but I doubt I'll end up being an idealist.

What if I said that, yes, everything exists in the mind, but that mind is the mind of God? Would that count as idealism? We call God's opinions "truth," his thought process "logic," and his will "reality." That's a theory, anyway.

I'll try to address the Ship of Theseus (& the axe). I think that physical reality actually exists, but distinctions between physical bodies is a division made only in the mind. That is, a chair is not a distinct physical entity (it doesn't have a pure, pre-existing, metaphysical form, as Plato would suggest). A chair is a select collection of atoms, indistinguishable from all the other atoms, except that humans create the division, since it is practical.

As for the chicken and the egg, this really is no paradox. One's answer would depend on their scientific-historic position. I would answer that the chicken came first, because God created the first chicken. Easy.

Speaking of the æther, I would point out that it is not entirely abandoned by modern scientists. Some scientists still believe in the æther. Those who believe in Special Relativity have found the need to replace the æther with a similar structure. At some time in the distant future, I intend to conduct an iquiry into all these theories to determine a correct theory of the Universe. I'll be reading books like The Need for Speed (C): The Quantum Effects of an Elastic-Solid Aether and Ether Space-Time & Cosmology Volumes 1-3.

Unfortunately, I don't know that much about Quantum Physics, etc. I'll learn about that in the future, too.