Lockes argument for the existence of a necessary eternal being is a version of the cosmological argument from causality. His argument in general is as follows: 1) Men actually exist and are not eternal beings. ... 3) Things that begin to exist cannot cause their own existence. 4) Things that begin to exist cannot come from nothing. 5) Therefore from eternity there has been something. ... Lockes four premises seem to be true. ... Therefore the argument is valid. But since it seems that the premises are true, the argument seems to me to be sound as well. ... Just because something has existed from eternity doesnt mean that an eternal being has existed. It is possible that what has existed from eternity is an infinite regress of non-eternal beings, each of which is the effect of the preceeding member. Additionally Lockes conclusion does not imply that there is only one eternal being, there might be several. Unfortunately Lockes conclusion does not bar these possibilities. ...
Lockes argument that the eternal being is most powerful can be stated in four steps. ... 2) Thus every non-eternal being received its powers from the same source as what caused it. ... Otherwise Lockes first premise would fail by simply pointing out that I taught myself how to play guitar, since it is a quality that is due to myself.
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