This is completely different from the other three causes. The material cause is the matter out of which a thing is made. Aristotle believed everything has a purpose and this wasn’t enough to make the “thing” what it was designed to do. The efficient cause helps the “thing” to for fill its function. It is the means, which brings something about. It is the source of motion, generation or change. Thirdly, the formal cause, this cause produces the characteristics, which make the “thing” fit into whichever category it fits into. It is the species, kind or type.
An example of how this works is a statue. The material cause of a statue is the bronze, the efficient cause of a statue is the person chiselling away, the formal cause of the statue are the characteristics of a statue and ultimately the final cause of the statue is that the sculptor wants to make a beautiful object for ornamental or dedicatory reasons. The “thing” that set out with a particular aim in mind brings about the final cause.
Aristotle believed that everything has an ultimate reason for their existence and the final cause is this definitive reason. Since this is true, the final cause is so much different to the other causes. Aristotle believes that the final cause gives the best explanation of an object. The other three causes could be leading to anything but the final cause expresses the reason for the object’s existence. It is the end or purpose for which a thing exists.
The final cause tells you whether the object has for filled its purpose. For Aristotle, if it has for filled its purpose then it has reached full perfection and reality. Therefore if the final cause didn’t exist we wouldn’t be able to tell whether the object had reached its full perfection.
However, the final cause wouldn’t have occurred if the other three causes didn’t operate. He believed that since the absence or change of any one of the causes would result in the existence of a thing of some different sort. So, an explanation that included all four causes completely captures the significance and reality of the thing itself. Take a house; the final cause of a house would be to provide shelter for human beings. This is part of the explanation of a house’s existence because it would never have been built unless someone needed a place to live.
Another example to show the difference between the final cause and the three causes before that is that of a young lion. The material cause is the tissues and organs, the efficient cause is its parents who generated it, the formal cause is it’s species-a lion and it’s final, most important (according to Aristotle) cause is it’s certain force towards becoming an older lion.
The different causes relate in a way to all our senses. This seems reasonable considering Aristotle thinks we can only have true knowledge through this world because it is through our experience that we come to understand things.
