Thinking Matter in Locke’s Proof of God’s Existence

Commentators almost universally agree that Locke denies the possibility of thinking matter in Book IV Chapter 10 of the Essay. This article develops an alternative interpretation according to which Locke allows for the possibility that a system of matter could think (even prior to any act of superaddition on God’s part). In addition, it contends that this does not destroy Locke’s argument in the chapter, instead it helps to illuminate the nature of it. The article proceeds in two main stages. First, a distinction between two senses of ‘production’ is made to clarify Locke’s claim that matter cannot produce thought. Second, Locke’s claim that God could not be a system of randomly moving particles is interpreted as a claim about God’s wisdom and knowledge and not as a claim about thinking matter.