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Single Idea 14028

[from 'Letter to Herodotus' by Epicurus, in 7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 1. Nature of Existence ]

Full Idea

Nothing comes into being from what is not.

Gist of Idea

Nothing comes to be from what doesn't exist

Source

Epicurus (Letter to Herodotus [c.293 BCE], 38)

Book Reference

Epicurus: 'The Epicurus Reader', ed/tr. Inwood,B. /Gerson,L. [Hackett 1994], p.6


A Reaction

King Lear puts it better: Nothing will come of nothing [1.i]. There seems to be an underlying assumption that coming into being out of nothing is much weirder than just existing, but I am not convinced about that. It's all equally weird.

Related Ideas

Idea 14029 If disappearing things went to nothingness, nothing could return, and it would all be gone by now [Epicurus]

Idea 14030 The totality is complete, so there is no room for it to change, and nothing extraneous to change it [Epicurus]