How Nothing Can Be Something: The Stoic Theory of Void

Ancient Philosophy 35 (2):405-429 (2015)
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Abstract

Void is at the heart of Stoic metaphysics. As the incorporeal par excellence, being defined purely in terms of lacking body, it brings into sharp focus the Stoic commitment to non-existent Somethings. This article argues that Stoic void, far from rendering the Stoic system incoherent or merely ad hoc, in fact reflects a principled and coherent physicalism that sets the Stoics apart from their materialist predecessors and atomist neighbors.

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Vanessa de Harven
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

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