The life-changing Aristotelian doctrine

15.10.2022
204
The life-changing Aristotelian doctrine

According to Aristotle, there are four reasons that enable anything and the universe as a whole to come into existence. These four reasons are: Material Cause (causa materialis), Formal Cause (causa formalis), Factor (agent) Cause (causa efficiens) and Final (purpose) Cause (causa finalis). This situation, which is valid for the universe in general, is also valid for all individual things and particulars.

See also: The philosopher who allows you to discover life: Aristotle

Aristotle’s teaching of the four causes can be explained item by item as follows:

 

Material Cause: The reason that shows from which substance something is formed is called material cause. For example, consider a tombstone. There will undoubtedly be a need for a substance, such as marble, for this stone to come into existence. The tombstone will be made of marble. Thus, the marble will be the material cause (causa materialis) of the tombstone.

Formal Cause: The formal cause of something is called the formal cause. In order for the marble we mentioned above to turn into a tombstone, there must be the possibility of “becoming a tombstone” in the marble and the marble must gain the form of a tombstone. Thus, the form of the tombstone will be the second condition for the formation of the tombstone. Thus, the form of the tombstone will be the formal cause (casua formalis) of the tombstone.

Effective Cause: The cause that enables the substance to take shape is called the active cause, the active cause or the efficient cause. For example, the marble’s being in the form of a tombstone does not occur spontaneously in marble. It will take someone, a sculptor, a craftsman, a stonemason, to carve the marble and turn it into a tombstone. The stonemason who carves the marble will also be the active or effective reason (causa efficiens) of the tombstone.

Final Cause: Finally, there must be a purpose in the formation of a substance, and the reason that shows this purpose is called the final cause. In other words, while the stonemason is trying to put the marble into a form, the aim of the stonemason is to turn the marble into a tombstone. For this purpose, the stone will be erected at the bedside of the deceased in a cemetery, and will carry some basic information about him like an inscription. Thus, the fourth reason, the purpose or the target cause (causa finalis), will also be determined.

Statue

In order for the marble to turn into a sculpture, there must be a possibility of “being a sculpture” in the marble and the marble must gain the form of sculpture. (Image: Pexels)

 

Aristotle’s teaching of the four causes, summarized above, is a holistic teaching that compiles everything that the philosophers before him put forward as the cause of the universe and is so comprehensive that it has remained valid for hundreds of years after it and has become one of the most permanent and classical teachings in the history of philosophy.

 

Aristotle did not dismiss any explanation that was put forward as the cause of the universe before him. For example, he adopted the different material causes (earth, water, air and fire) put forward by natural philosophers as the four material causes of nature; He argued that material things, other than abstract structures such as God, celestial bodies, spirit, and mind, ultimately emerged from these four material causes.

 

On the other hand, he accepted Plato’s ideas as the formal cause of the universe, albeit with a different interpretation. Anaxagoras’ Nous or Plato’s Demiourgos preceded the prime mover, pure thought, pure form, which is self-thinking, in Aristotle’s four causes teaching.

AUTHOR INFO
COMMENTS

No comments yet, be the first by filling the form.