46. Aristotle's Four Kinds of Causes

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• The Common Notion of Cause: What is responsible for the being or becoming of another
• The Four Kinds of Causes: Material, formal, efficient (mover/maker), and final (end/purpose)
• Distinction Between Being and Becoming: An effect may depend on a cause for its coming-to-be but not for its continued being, or for both
• Historical Development: How Greek philosophers progressively discovered each kind of cause
• Pedagogical Order: Why the order of presentation reflects both historical discovery and the order of learning

Key Arguments #

The Definition of Cause #

• A cause is that which is responsible for the being or becoming of another
• An effect depends upon a cause for its existence or coming into existence
• Distinction between becoming and being: The wood becomes a chair through the carpenter, but the wood, now shaped, continues to be necessary for the chair’s continued existence
• The effect depends upon the cause for either or both of these aspects

The Material Cause (Ἀρχή τῆς ὕλης) #

• Definition: That from which something comes to be, existing within it
• The second part (“existing within it”) is essential to distinguish matter from:
  • The contrary or lack (στέρησις) of form—the soft is not in the hard
  • The mover or maker—the carpenter is not in the chair
  • The whole from which a part is taken—the whole car is not in the removed part
• Why Aristotle uses artificial examples: More known to us than natural things; we perceive the matter more clearly in things we make
• Examples: Bronze of a statue, silver of a cup, wood of a chair, hydrogen and oxygen of water
• Important note on substantial change: If hydrogen and oxygen undergo substantial change in becoming water (such that they are no longer in the water), then they are not the material cause in the strict sense

The Formal Cause (Εἶδος / Λόγος) #

• Definition: The account or definition of what was to be (λόγος—logos)
• A thing is defined more by its form than by its matter
• Examples: The ratio 2:1 (the diapason—διαπασών) in harmonious sounds; the shape that makes a chair a chair rather than a table, regardless of whether the matter is wood or metal
• Two types of formal cause:
  • Intrinsic form: The form inherent in and constitutive of the thing itself
  • Extrinsic form (model): A pattern external to the thing that is imitated or copied in production
• Man learns by imitation: The form of the parent’s speech becomes a cause of the form of the child’s speech through imitation
• Pythagoras and mathematics: Pythagoras discovered simple numerical ratios underlying harmonious sounds, introducing the formal cause; in mathematics, the formal cause is the primary (or only) kind of cause

The Efficient Cause (Τὸ ὗθεν ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς κινήσεως) #

• Definition: Whence the first beginning of change or rest
• The word “first” is significant—it distinguishes the mover/maker from the matter, which merely undergoes change
• Matter provides the potential, but the mover initiates the actualization
• Examples: The carpenter; the father (not the mother); the advisor; natural movers; fire
• Why father rather than mother?:
  • The mother is associated with the material cause (mater → materia in Latin; Mother Earth in ancient philosophy)
  • Most of the matter of the child comes from the mother; the father initiates the motion/formation
  • This is why God is called “Father” (the mover/maker) rather than “Mother” (which would suggest matter)
• Two main movers in human experience: Nature and reason (human will)
• Heraclitus: “War is the father of all things”—this language reveals his thinking of an efficient cause rather than matter

The Final Cause (Τὸ οὗ ἕνεκα) #

• Definition: That for the sake of which something is or is done
• The most obscure of the four causes
• Examples: A chair exists for the sake of sitting; one walks for the sake of health; medicine is administered for the sake of purgation
• Hierarchy of ends: There can be multiple ends in order, each for the sake of the next, with the ultimate end being most properly called “the end”
  • Example: Taking aspirin for the sake of relieving a headache, which is for the sake of working, which is for the sake of…
  • Example: Thomas Aquinas studies the body to understand the soul, the soul to understand angels, and angels to understand God
• Multiple ends vs. ultimate end: Not only the last end but each intermediate end can properly be called an end
• Relation to the efficient cause: Socrates criticized Anaxagoras for introducing Mind (Νοῦς—nous) as a mover but failing to develop the concept of end or purpose, since the mind acts with something in mind

The Order of the Four Causes #

• Historical order: The order reflects how Greek philosophers discovered these causes:
  • Material cause: Thales, Anaximenes, the poets (water, air, Mother Earth)
  • Formal cause: Pythagoras (numerical ratios)
  • Efficient cause: Heraclitus (“war is the father”), Empedocles (love and hate as movers), Anaxagoras (Mind/nous)
  • Final cause: Socrates and Plato (end, purpose, the Good)
• Pedagogical significance: The historical order corresponds to the natural order of learning—from what is more known to us to what is less known
• Why this matters for Greek vs. modern philosophy: The Greeks, being the first philosophers, naturally began with what is more known; modern philosophers often begin wherever the previous philosopher left off, disrupting the natural pedagogical order

Important Definitions #

• Cause (αἰτία—aitia): That which is responsible for the being or becoming of another; that upon which the effect depends
• Effect: That which depends upon a cause for its existence or coming into existence
• Being (εἶναι): The continued existence of a thing after it has come to be
• Becoming (γίγνεσθαι): The coming into existence of a thing
• Nature (φύσις—physis): A beginning and cause of motion and of rest in that which it is, first as such and not by happening
• Form (εἶδος—eidos) / Definition (λόγος—logos): The account or order that completes and specifies the being of a thing; more essential to a thing than matter
• Matter (ὕλη—hyle): That from which something comes to be and which remains within it; the potential or ability to receive form
• End (τέλος—telos): That for the sake of which something is or is done; the purpose or goal toward which something is directed
• Model (παράδειγμα—paradeigma): An extrinsic pattern that is imitated or copied in production
• Mover/Maker (τὸ κινοῦν): That which initiates change or motion

Examples & Illustrations #

The Wooden Chair #

• Material cause: The wood (and metal fasteners)
• Formal cause: The shape and arrangement that makes it a chair rather than a table
• Efficient cause: The carpenter who shaped the wood
• Final cause: Sitting—the purpose for which the chair exists

The Word “Cat” #

• Material cause: The letters C, A, T (chalk on the board)
• Formal cause: The order of the letters (distinguishes “CAT” from “ACT” or “TAC”)
• Efficient cause: The writer who arranged the letters in that order
• Final cause: The purpose for which the writer arranged them (to discuss a favorite pet or animal)

Medical Treatment #

• Material cause: The drug or medicine
• Formal cause: The definition or specific nature of the medicine
• Efficient cause: The doctor who prescribes it
• Final cause: Purgation or health—the purpose of treatment
• Intermediate ends: The medicine is for the sake of purgation; purgation is for the sake of thinning; thinning is for the sake of health

Personal Anecdote: Farm Wagons #

• Berquist’s father’s factory made farm wagons according to patterns on the wall (extrinsic forms that were imitated)
• Workers would copy these patterns to produce wagons according to the model

Personal Anecdote: House Cats #

• Different animals grow to different natural sizes and then stop: humans to one size, tigers to another, cats to another
• This difference is due to each animal’s nature (form), not external circumstances
• It is natural for growth to cease at the appropriate height for the species

Medical Example: Aspirin for Headache #

• Chain of ends: Going to the drugstore (for the sake of) buying aspirin (for the sake of) taking aspirin (for the sake of) relieving the headache
• Each of these can properly be called an end, though the relief of the headache is the ultimate end

Notable Quotes #

“A cause is what is responsible for the being or becoming of another.”

“The second part [of the definition of matter, ’existing within it’] is necessary to separate matter from the contrary, from the lack of form, from the mover or maker, and even from the whole.”

“Why does he take examples from artificial things rather than from natural things? Because we make them, we see the matter. They’re more known to us than natural things.”

“Nature is a beginning and cause of motion and of rest in that which it is, first as such and not by happening.”

“By matter you have a natural thing only in ability. By form you have a natural thing actually.”

“War is the father of all things.” [Heraclitus, quoted by Berquist to illustrate understanding of efficient cause]

“The end is the most obscure of the causes… So after he gives the example of health… ‘For an account of what does he walk around?’ ‘Why does he take exercise every day, in order that he may be healthy?’ ‘Speaking thus, we think that we have rendered the cause.’”

“The object doesn’t name a kind of cause as explicitly as end does.”

“To some extent, the historic order for the Greeks in which they thought corresponds more closely to the order in which we should actually learn these things.”

Questions Addressed #

Why is the second part of the definition of material cause (“existing within it”) necessary? #

• It distinguishes matter from the contrary (the soft is not in the hard), from the lack or privation of form, from the mover (the carpenter is not in the chair), and from the whole from which a part is taken

Why does Aristotle use artificial examples for the material cause? #

• Because artificial things are more known to us than natural things; we can see and identify the matter more clearly in things we make than in natural things like water or plants

Why is the formal cause exemplified by Pythagorean musical ratios? #

• Because Pythagoras discovered that simple numerical ratios (such as 2:1) underlie harmonious sounds, introducing the insight that form is a cause distinct from matter

Why is the father (rather than the mother) taken as an example of the efficient cause? #

• Because the mother is associated with the material cause (matter is etymologically related to “mother”), while the father represents the mover or maker, the efficient cause that initiates the formation and development of the child

Why does Aristotle present the final cause last and argue that it really is a cause? #

• Because the final cause is the most obscure; it operates differently from the other three causes—it is not a physical agent but a purpose or goal, and so requires explicit argument to establish it as a genuine kind of cause

Can there be multiple ends? #

• Yes. There can be a hierarchy of ends, each intermediate end being for the sake of a further end, with the ultimate end being most properly called “the end.” Example: studying the body for the soul, the soul for the angels, the angels for God

What is the difference between the object and the end? #

• The object does not explicitly name a kind of cause; it is more about the limit or specification of a power or ability. In powers of the soul, we distinguish powers by their acts, and acts by their objects (e.g., seeing is distinguished from hearing by its object, color). The end, by contrast, is explicitly that for the sake of which something is or is done. Though they may coincide (e.g., God is both the object of faith and our ultimate end), they are not the same concept.

Why does the order of the four causes matter? #

• It reflects both the historical order in which Greek philosophers discovered these causes and the natural pedagogical order—from what is more known to us (matter) to what is less known (the final cause). This order also represents how reason can be forced by truth itself to recognize the necessity of each kind of cause.