St. George Stock (modern guide) · 1850–1922
A Guide to Stoicism 5 ¶16 — St. George Stock (modern guide)
From “Physic”
Original English text (1908)
St. George Stock (modern guide), A Guide to Stoicism 5 ¶16
Another distinction, due this time to Chrysippus himself, which the Stoics found it convenient to draw, was between the three words 'void,' 'place' and 'space'. Void was defined as 'the absence of body', place was that which was occupied by body, the term 'space' was reserved for that which was partly occupied and partly unoccupied. As there was no corner of the cosmos unfilled by body, space, it will be seen, was another name for the All. Place was compared to a vessel that was full, void to one that was empty, and space to the vast wine-cask, such as that in which Diogenes made his home, which was kept partly fully, but in which there was always room for more. The last comparison must of course not be pressed. For if space be a cask, it is one without top, bottom or sides.
Cite this passage
St. George Stock (modern guide), A Guide to Stoicism 5 ¶16 (1908)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/a-guide-to-stoicism/5.16
St. George Stock, Stoicism (1908), text of the Haldeman-Julius reprint “A Guide to Stoicism”. Text: Project Gutenberg #7514. Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesChrysippus separated three ideas: void as the absence of body, place as what a body fills, and space as partly filled and partly empty. They were pictured as an empty vessel, a full vessel and the great wine cask Diogenes lived in, with the comparison not to be pushed too far.
Older wording
- “void”
- — completely empty space
- “cask”
- — a large wooden barrel
Themes and situations
- Nature and the cosmos
Quote cards
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