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 Reference
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]