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Full Idea
In addition, coming-to-be may proceed out of nothing pre-existing - a thesis which, more than any other, preoccupied and alarmed the earliest philosophers.
Gist of Idea
Philosophers have worried about coming-to-be from nothing pre-existing
Source
Aristotle (Coming-to-be and Passing-away (Gen/Corr) [c.335 BCE], 317b29)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'The Basic Works of Aristotle', ed/tr. McKeon,Richard [Modern Library Classics 2001], p.479
A Reaction
This is the origin of the worry about 'ex nihilo' coming-to-be. Christians tended to say that only God could create in this way.
Related Idea
Idea 16574 Coming-to-be may be from nothing in a qualified way, as arising from an absence [Aristotle]
| 457 | Substance is not created or destroyed in mortals, but there is only mixing and exchange [Empedocles] |
| 16572 | Does the pure 'this' come to be, or the 'this-such', or 'so-great', or 'somewhere'? [Aristotle] |
| 16573 | Philosophers have worried about coming-to-be from nothing pre-existing [Aristotle] |
| 13214 | The substratum changing to a contrary is the material cause of coming-to-be [Aristotle] |
| 13215 | If a perceptible substratum persists, it is 'alteration'; coming-to-be is a complete change [Aristotle] |
| 16574 | Coming-to-be may be from nothing in a qualified way, as arising from an absence [Aristotle] |
| 16706 | Generation is when local motions aggregate to become a single subject [Nicholas of Autrecourt] |
| 18892 | Suppose a world where I'm from different gametes; add my gametes; which one is more me? [McGinn] |
| 16583 | Weak ex nihilo says it all comes from something; strong version says the old must partly endure [Pasnau] |