Aristotle and his Four Causes

Aristotle (384-322 B.C) believed in the four causes. Soccio explains the four causes as the following, “Aristotles “four causes” are thus offered as accounts of (1) the material thing is made of (Material Cause); (2) the form the thing take (Formal Cause); (3) the “triggering” action or motion that begins the thing (Efficient Cause; and (4) the ultimate purpose or goal for which the things exists (Final Cause).” (pg 176)

The material cause of a thing refers to the substance from which the thing comes and in which change occurs. It is the cause that makes a difference about what the result is. In other words, cars and houses are made up of many diverse things, and some wood or some metal do not ever become a car or a house. It is not essential to identify the materials of an object. After all, it is not the destiny or nature for the wood or metal to become a car or a house, they could become anything else and are not limited to just cars and houses.

The formal cause is the shape, or form into what the matter is changed, must know what something is (essence). It is exemplified in Soccio on page 177, “Until wood is fashioned into some particular thing, a bed or table, it is potentially but not actually a bed or table. Wood needs to be formed into beds and table and other crafted objects “according to the results of an art.” It is not just wood (matter), then that makes a bed or table, but the form the wood takes. Therefore, in addition to identifying the Material Cause of a thing, we need to know its formal cause, the shape or from, into which “this matter” Is changed.

Efficient cause is the act of doing it (The action). It is also named as the thing’s triggering cause, or in today’s terms known as “cause.” The efficient cause is what initiates activity, it is what brings change to something. This cause needs some sort of “motion.” The motion is what converts the potential into an actual change.

And finally, the final cause is the goal of what you are doing, it is the final product and is the reason for what you doing. Soccio puts it as, “Aristotle called the ultimate why of a thing that thing’s telos, or “final” goal, the purpose of its very existence. Thus, the very last answer in a series of “why” questions identifies the “final cause” needed to complete our understanding of the thing.” (pg 178)

Even in everyday life situations the causes still apply. In a short story for English class, the material cause is simply the materials needed to make the short story. The formal cause of a short story is the ________. The efficient cause is the “first why” one would be making the short story. A reason could be that the student wants to achieve a good grade on the story. Lastly, the final cause is the thing telos, its final goal. In this case it could be the want for the student to be granted their degree.