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Full Idea
There is no need for void to be the cause of all change, because it is perfectly possible for a plenum to alter qualitatively (which is something Melissus overlooked).
Clarification
'Void' is total emptiness; a 'plenum' is a smooth, continuous background
Gist of Idea
The void is not required for change, because a plenum can alter in quality
Source
comment on Melissus (fragments/reports [c.443 BCE]) by Aristotle - Physics 214a27
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Physics', ed/tr. Waterfield,Robin [OUP 1996], p.94
A Reaction
In modern physics this presumably gives us fluctuations in a force field. Motion is like a cat being digested by a python. The atomist claim that emptiness is needed if anything is to move still has intuitive appeal.
12270 | Being is one [Melissus, by Aristotle] |
3059 | There is no real motion, only the appearance of it [Melissus, by Diog. Laertius] |
5100 | The void is not required for change, because a plenum can alter in quality [Aristotle on Melissus] |
456 | Nothing could come out of nothing [Melissus] |