Body annihilation is conceivable but space annihilation is not

Evidence

Of body, – that is of all bodies whatsoever, – the annihilation may be conceived without difficulty. Why? Because, in whatsoever place, – that is, within whatsoever portion of space, within whatsoever receptacle, composed of mere space, any body is, at any given time conceived to be, it may thenceforward be conceived to be removed from that place, and so successively from any and every other portion of space. … Of space, – that is, of all portions of space whatever, indeed of so much as any one portion of space, the annihilation cannot easily be conceived. Why? Because in mere space there is nothing to remove; nothing that can be conceived capable of being removed. In so far as matter is annihilated, there is less matter than there was before. But, suppose space to be annihilated; is there less space than there was before? — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 469

Categorization

• XREF: The conceivability-of-removal test for annihilation is a thought experiment with real teeth, comparable to modern discussions of whether space is substantive (relationism vs substantivalism).