Download Aristotle on Causation

Aristotle on
Causation
Aristotle wrote many books on many subjects. Some of his books are
about logic, physics, and philosophy; in those books, among other topics,
he talks about “causation”. When we ask a question like “what caused
World War One?” or “what caused the big rain storm last June?”, Aristotle
says that our question needs to be carefully analyzed.
Examining the idea of “cause”, Aristotle says that there are really four types
of cause - that every event or thing has four causes.
The Efficient Cause is that by which some change is made; the efficient
cause is an agent, and it could be living or non-living, human or nonhuman; plant, animal, or mechanical; it is that which initiates the process of
change and so is its primary source.
The Final Cause is the goal for which a change is made, the goal for
which something happened, or for which something came to be; the end
or purpose for the sake of which the process was commenced.
The Material Cause is the “stuff” in which some change has been made;
it is that which persists through the change (Aristotle calls this “substrate”).
The Formal Cause is that into which something has been changed, the
form of the object or event; the form which appears in the process of
change; the form is the shape of an object or the pattern of an eventprocess; it is the properties of the final result.
For example, the sculptor is the efficient cause of a statue, because he
imposes the change upon the marble. The marble is the material cause of
the statue. Beauty - being beautiful, possessing a beautiful object - is the
final cause, the reason for which the statue was made. The marble
acquired the form, the shape, the distinctive properties of a statue; these
(form, shape, properties) are the formal cause.
Aristotle on Causality, page 1