Single Idea 14033

[catalogued under 26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 5. Infinite in Nature]

Full Idea

The number of bodies and the magnitude of the void are unlimited. If void were unlimited, and bodies limited, bodies move in scattered fashion with no support of checking collisions; in limited void, unlimited bodies would not have a place to be in.

Gist of Idea

Bodies are unlimited as well as void, since the two necessarily go together

Source

Epicurus (Letter to Herodotus [c.293 BCE], 42)

Book Reference

Epicurus: 'The Epicurus Reader', ed/tr. Inwood,B. /Gerson,L. [Hackett 1994], p.7


A Reaction

Seems good. The point is that without collisions, bodies would not stop relative to one another, and combine to form the objects we perceive. Of course if the started off (anathema!) stuck together, they may not have dispersed yet.

Related Idea

Idea 14032 Totality has no edge; an edge implies a contrast beyond the edge, and there can't be one [Epicurus]