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Full Idea
They say that being does not exist more than non-being, because neither does the void exist more than the body.
Gist of Idea
Being does not exist more than non-being
Source
report of Democritus (fragments/reports [c.431 BCE], A006) by Aristotle - Metaphysics 0985b09
Book Ref
Democritus: 'Early Greek Phil VII: Democritus', ed/tr. Laks,A/Most,G [Harvard Loeb 2016], p.93
A Reaction
The claim that Being and Non-Being are the same thing is pretty startling. It seems to be an expedient to get Void into the picture, even though it is taken to be wholly devoid of qualities.
Related Ideas
Idea 20901 True Being only occurs when it is completely full, with atoms and no void [Democritus, by Aristotle]
Idea 20900 Defenders of the One say motion needs the void - but that is not part of Being [Parmenides, by Aristotle]
| 445 | The realm of necessary non-existence cannot be explored, because it is unknowable [Parmenides] |
| 1503 | There is no such thing as nothing [Parmenides] |
| 18933 | Not-Being obviously doesn't exist, and the five modes of Being are all impossible [Gorgias, by Diog. Laertius] |
| 20902 | Being does not exist more than non-being [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 20904 | The non-existent exists as much as the existent, because it has causal powers [Democritus] |
| 11278 | What does 'that which is not' refer to? [Plato] |
| 24029 | Among the simples are the graspable negations, such as rest and instants [Descartes] |
| 21762 | To grasp an existence, we must consider its non-existence [Hegel, by Houlgate] |
| 21977 | Nothing exists, as thinkable and expressible [Hegel] |
| 22919 | A thing which makes no difference seems unlikely to exist [Le Poidevin] |
| 14393 | The totality state is the most plausible truthmaker for negative existential truths [Merricks] |
| 23538 | Nothingness only exists in consciousness [Berardi] |
| 12408 | Sartre to Waitress: Coffee with no cream, please... [Sommers,W] |