Explain Aristotle idea of the four causes.

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Laura Barrett

Explain Aristotle idea of the four causes.

Some of the questions that Aristotle wanted to answer were to do with the nature of things, their substance. A question that he wanted to answer was “What gives a particular object their characteristics?”  For Aristotle the ‘Form’ of something was not some kind of abstract Ideal, as Plato had believed but was found within the item itself. Its form was its structure, and its characteristics; the ‘form’ of an object can be eagerly perceived with the senses.

The explanations of things could be seen in four different ways, at four different levels: the four causes.

The first cause is the material cause. This answers the question what it is made of?

The material cause is that of which an entity, object or system is made. Material causes effect the wholes of which they constitute through transference of their inherent qualitative properties. For example two tables that are formally identical, but consist of differing material cause will each reflect the properties of the materials from which it is constructed. A table that is made from wood will have the qualitative properties of wood. Therefore will be qualitatively distinct from tables made from plastic or metal. The material is not enough on its own, to make the object of whatever it is. Material is necessary, but it does not give us the whole answer. Additionally it is important to remark upon that Aristotle’s view, material causality is not purely the substance of a thing, but also the means by which a thing is brought before the senses. It is the granting of presence or existence to a form. Without the material cause, a formal cause would have no substance to it and could exist, as it is the matter, or, material, which persists throughout the whole change. Motion is the passage of matter into form and it is four kinds; motion which affects the substance of an object, particularly its beginning and it’s ending; motion which brings out changes in quality; motion which brings about changes in quantity, by increasing it and decreasing it; motion which brings about locomotion or change of place. Of these the last is the most fundamental and important.        

 Secondly there is efficient cause. This cause explains something in terms of its essence or "pattern.” A question that is relevant to this cause is, how does it happen?

This is the agent or force immediately responsible for bringing this matter and that the form together in the production of the object. For example the efficient cause of the house would include the carpenters, masons, plumbers and other who workers who used these materials to build the house. Obviously the house would not be there without their contribution.    

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Another example could be, someone might say that the formal cause of a statue is what it is for it to be a statue: that it have a head, that it be a certain height, that it portray a certain goddess.

 Thirdly, there is the formal cause. This answers the question of what are its characteristics? 

This is the characteristics that make the object fit into whatever category it fits into. The form cause provides the form. For an example the formal cause of the statue is that it has the characteristics of a statue. It is not a lump of ...

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