For example, here are the Four Causes of a chair; its Material Cause would be wood, its Efficient Cause would be a carpenter, its Formal Cause would be that it has four legs and a surface to sit on, and its Final Cause would be for people to sit on it.
Unlike Plato, Aristotle did not believe forms to be abstract, but instead believed them to consist of matter which could be perceived by the senses. He therefore believed that we acquire our knowledge of the form of something by experience and our knowledge of these forms are a posteriori, this means that we only acquire knowledge of the form after we have had contact with an example of the form. Aristotle’s theory of the Causes is a much more acceptable and comprehensible than Plato’s beliefs.
For In the book metaphysics, Aristotle examines the concept of substance. He concludes that substance is a combination of matter and form and this is what a thing is made up off. The Form is a things specific and distinguishing characteristics, and matter being the material that the thing is made from. For example the matter of a house is the bricks, timber, etc, or whatever constitutes the potential house, while the form of the house is the actual house.
The development from potentiality to actuality provided a basis for the beginning and existence of all things, including the universe. This development of potentiality to actuality is the progression from the idea of something to the idea becoming a reality. In conclusion the matter of a house is its potential and the form is its actuality. Aristotle used his theory of the Four Causes to explain the movement of potentiality to actuality.
As everything has to have an Efficient cause, Aristotle explains that there is one being that caused the universe to begin. For this ‘Prime Mover’ to be the efficient cause of everything it has to be ‘unmoved’ and immutable, otherwise it would have an Efficient Cause itself. It is a necessary being, whereas everything else is a contingent being and is dependant on other things. In order to remain unchanging the Prime Mover must be thinking about the only thing that does not change, i.e. itself, for eternity, this is known as pure thought.
As well as strengths, there appear to be weaknesses in Aristotle’s beliefs. One example is that the Final Cause of a table is to put things on to but the Final Cause is not for instance so that you can sit on it, but we can sit on a table without changing what it is. It is still a table whether we put plates or something on it or if we are sitting on it. So, it does not allow for things which are made for one reason but can be used for another. According to Aristotle's theory using an object for anything other than what it was made for should turn it into something else.
However Aristotle’s theory is much stronger when compared to Plato’s thoughts. Aristotle's theory accounts for us being able to categorize objects, define what they are made from and how they came into existence without having to say “They just are.” But Aristotle contradicts himself because according to him, the Prime Mover had no beginning or end and ‘is just there’.
For Aristotle the final cause was the most important as it contributes the most to explaining the existence of an item, including the universe itself. The final cause is teleological, this means that it is concerned with ultimate end or function, since this what gives an item its ultimate goodness. Aristotle believed that everything had a final cause even if it is not apparent to us straight away. The final cause is seen as the most significant as it explains not only the cause of something but its purpose as well. Although we may not know what it is straight away, everything has a purpose but we are yet to discover the purpose of humanity or the universe.