Four causes
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| - | [[Aristotle]] held that there were '''four kinds of causes''':<ref name="SEP Four Causes">[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-causality/#FouCau "Four Causes"] Falcon, Andrea. [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-causality/ Aristotle on Causality]. ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' 2008.</ref> | + | [[Aristotle]] held that there were '''four kinds of causes''': |
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| * A thing's '''material cause''' is the material it consists of. (For a table, that might be wood; for a statue, that might be bronze or marble.) | * A thing's '''material cause''' is the material it consists of. (For a table, that might be wood; for a statue, that might be bronze or marble.) | ||
| * A thing's '''formal cause''' is its form, i.e. the arrangement of that matter. | * A thing's '''formal cause''' is its form, i.e. the arrangement of that matter. | ||
| - | * A thing's '''efficient''' or '''moving cause'''<ref>Aristotle, ''Generation of Animals'' II.1.</ref> is "the primary source of the change or rest." An efficient cause of ''x'' can be present even if ''x'' is never actually produced and so should not be confused with a sufficient cause.<ref>Aristotle ''Parts of Animals'' I.1. "For it is that which is yet to be -- health, let us say, or a man -- that, owing to its being of such and such characters, necessitates the pre-existence or previous production of this and that antecedent; and not this or that antecedent which, because it exists or has been generated, makes it necessary that health or a man is in, or shall come into, existence."</ref> (Aristotle argues that, for a table, this would be the art of table-making, which is the principle guiding its creation.)<ref name="SEP Four Causes" /> | + | * A thing's '''efficient''' or '''moving cause''' is "the primary source of the change or rest." An efficient cause of ''x'' can be present even if ''x'' is never actually produced and so should not be confused with a sufficient cause. (Aristotle argues that, for a table, this would be the art of table-making, which is the principle guiding its creation.) |
| * A thing's '''final cause''' is its aim or purpose. (For a seed, it might be an adult plant. For a sailboat, it might be sailing. For a ball on the top of a ramp, it might be the ball rolling down the ramp.) | * A thing's '''final cause''' is its aim or purpose. (For a seed, it might be an adult plant. For a sailboat, it might be sailing. For a ball on the top of a ramp, it might be the ball rolling down the ramp.) | ||
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Aristotle held that there were four kinds of causes:
- A thing's material cause is the material it consists of. (For a table, that might be wood; for a statue, that might be bronze or marble.)
- A thing's formal cause is its form, i.e. the arrangement of that matter.
- A thing's efficient or moving cause is "the primary source of the change or rest." An efficient cause of x can be present even if x is never actually produced and so should not be confused with a sufficient cause. (Aristotle argues that, for a table, this would be the art of table-making, which is the principle guiding its creation.)
- A thing's final cause is its aim or purpose. (For a seed, it might be an adult plant. For a sailboat, it might be sailing. For a ball on the top of a ramp, it might be the ball rolling down the ramp.)
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