 Brito’s opponents attack either step 2 or step 3 of his argument. The objection to step 2 states that a thing’s being does not need have being, in the same way that the whiteness that makes something white needs not be white; so, \(x_{1}\) need not have being. A first objection to step 3 rejects the infinite regress, because there may be a \(x_{n}\) that has being by itself—the first cause (QMet: IV.2). According to a second objection to step 3, not everything is such that its being and essence differ, so some \(x_{n}\)’s being and essence can be the same without this leading to the same conclusion with respect to x.