What Aristotle Thinks Void Is: An Analysis of the Separated and Inseparable Voids of Physics IV.6–9

Prior to arguing against the existence of void in Physics IV.6–9, Aristotle offers an answer to what void is: place deprived of body. His refutations then target two different sorts of void, separated and inseparable voids. It is unsolved in Aristotelian scholarship what these two sorts of void are. This paper presents an interpretation. I find that the distinction between voids is philosophically rich and bears explanatory potential in a way unrecognized by studies on ancient void theory. Indeed, if my interpretation is correct, the distinction may be prescient, perhaps anticipating Newton’s own distinction between relative and absolute spaces.