Void

From Epicurus Wiki

Epicurus and his followers understood and defined the void as an infinite passive continuum within which atomic matter moves. Democritus was the first philosopher definitely known to explicitly assert that the void has a definite, real existence, but the scant remains of Democritean writings leave the details ambiguous. For Epicurus, however, thanks to elaborate assessments by Lucretius and Sextus Empiricus, the Epicurean description is well understood. The void is an "intangible substance." In the parlance of modern physics we may say that, for Epicurus, "space" is "substantival." In common language, we may say that the void functions as a "container."

For Epicurus, "place", "space", and "room" were terms all synonymous with "void."

It is no accident the Epicurean description of the void resembles that of Isaac Newton's conception of "absolute space." Newton was influenced by the writings of Pierre Gassendi, who revitalized interest in Epicurean atomism in the years leading up to the period of Enlightenment.