One way to push back against the idea of a mindless first cause is on the basis of the principle that ‘minds cannot come from nonminds’. This principle is somewhat plausible. It is at least difficult to see how the mental can be constructed from, or otherwise caused by, nonmental entities. If we the trace the causal history of minds back to a first cause, then this seems to indicate that it too must be a mind:

1. The first cause is the ultimate cause of minds.
2. Minds cannot come from nonminds.
3. If the first cause is not a nonmind, then the first cause is a mind.
4. Therefore, the first cause is a mind.