Question

Explain Aristotle’s 4 causes.

Answer 1

• According to his ancient work, there are four causes behind all the change in the world. They are the material cause, the formal cause, the efficient cause, and the final cause.
• According to the famous Greek philosopher, the material cause is the actual physical properties or makeup of a thing that is. It's the stuff we can see, touch, taste, and so on. Using my table, the wood is the material cause of the table. The table is made of wood, and therefore, the wood is the material cause.
• The formal cause is the structure or design of a being. In layman's terms, we can call it the blueprints, or the plan. The formal cause is what makes it one thing rather than another.The previous table example, the material cause is wood. That's what it's made of. However, the original carpenter could have chosen to make the very same wood into a chair, but he didn't. Instead, his plan, or design, called for putting the wood together as a table. According to Aristotle, the carpenter's design is the formal cause.
• Aristotle's next cause is known as the efficient cause. Stated very simply, this is the thing or agent which actually brings something about. It's not what it's made of or the plan for how to make it. It's the actual force that brings something into being. Again using the table example, Aristotle would tell, the carpenter is the efficient cause. It's his swinging of a hammer and sawing that actually brought the table into being.
• The last cause is the final cause. Being a bit more abstract, the final cause is the ultimate purpose for being. In the table example, its final cause is to give me and my family something to eat on, to do homework on, and play cards around etc.