Four Causes Of Aristotle

He was the first to study formal logic, founded called the Lyceum and tutored kings. He influenced Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions and beliefs. The Catholic Church took his view of a universal hierarchy and added the divine, the heavenly and the demonic to make their “Great Chain of Being.” Aristotle even had a basic idea of evolution based on God’s plan for the world (IEP). It is possible that he was the last person to know everything there was to know in his own time (Neill 488). His contributions to our understanding of the world are innumerable, despite that only about a third of his work survived. He contributed to philosophy as much as Plato, if not more. He took Plato’s theory of forms and changed it, making it his own, and in the process resolved the problems that he had noted, as well as those pointed out by Plato and others. He called his new theory he called Hylomorphism. Hylomorphism’s way of thinking stands directly opposite that which Plato’s forms encourage. Aristotle did not see the world as a reflection of another filled with forms but as the physical embodiment of the forms. The substances are created by the innate forms in the matter and are the only way we can perceive forms. This means that to Aristotle a substance did not have form only in an abstract world of forms but was contained by the object in and of

In Aristotle’s concept of the forms he breaks it down more to a material level. He does not necessarily believe that the forms are some abstract concept, but more so that the forms are within the objects themselves. Aristotle’s concept is based in the real world with real objects. He views the forms as a hierarchy of being. Aristotle ranks it from inanimate objects to animate objects. The lowest of which is elements along the lines of gold or copper. Above elements is compounds such as water. After compounds it moves from inanimate objects to animate objects. The first of which is plants. Plants are considered animate because of the fact that they grow and are nutritive. Above plants are animals. Animals are above plants because of the fact that animals can grow, are nutritive, are perceptive, and have the ability to move. Above animals is humans. Humans are above animals because of the fact that humans grow, are nutritive, are perceptive, have the ability to move, have the ability to use language, and have the ability to

Science in the Seventeenth Century In this paper, I will discuss the different viewpoints taken by scientists and philosophers such as Rene Descartes, Hero of Alexandria, Nicholas Steno, and Isaac Newton during the seventeenth century regarding their explanations of nature or the use of the forces of nature. Descartes and Hero of Alexandria studied and wrote papers prior to 1640; Steno and Newton wrote papers after 1640. Rene Descartes, the “Father of Modern Philosophy” and a scientist, believed that the world consisted of particles of matter, and that these particles of matter always filled the empty spaces of the world.

In Aristotle's sense, I believe that human beings have final causes. One of the main purposes for human beings is to survive. The formal cause will be the way we evolve to adapt to our surroundings and to reproduce to ensure continuity of the human race. The efficient cause are our ancestors. Finally, the material cause for our existence is due to the existence of a creator. As human beings, we work to ensure that we do not perish due to starvation and dehydration. We invest in research extensively and invent new objects to increase our standard of living and quality of life. We adapt to extreme temperature conditions by insulating or cooling ourselves. Additionally, we work to improve on our healthcare quality so that one can live longer

Aristotle's four causes address the issue of change. In his opinion, each change must be directed to a certain end. Thus, in questioning the reasons for change, one may ask four basic questions: What is the thing? What is it made of? What made it? What purpose does it serve? His first cause, asking what the thing is, is also known as the formal clause. Another way of looking at this question would be: What is it's form? As an example, in reference to Michaelangelo's famous David, it's form would be a statue. The formal cause calls upon Plato's earlier Theory of Forms in categorizing objects. The second question, known as the material cause, determines the specific substances from which it is made. Going back to the previous example, David's

Aristotle imagines an infinitely vast and eternally complicated universe, all under the control of a divine being. He states that the reason for the universe must be love because if God did not desire the universe, He would not allow the universe to exist. Through further observation, Aristotle then claims that a change must be caused to change. It is through these changes that all physical entities appear only temporarily. He then claims that there are four fundamental principles that describe all causes.

Aristotle’s understanding of the four causes begins with the assumption that is present in all Greek philosophy, the notion of pre-existing matter. He observed the world around him and noticed that it was in a state of constant motion, a movement from potentiality to

Complimentary to his mentor, there is also an overarching metaphor to be found in Aristotle’s work. Whereas Plato’s pertained to pattern change (as it relates to nature phases), his students focuses on biology; pattern change within nature. Therefore his metaphor is more accessible-it is part of the life world, he uses it as a context to explain other things. Aristotle’s work resonates with thoughts of causality. An idea that holds that we view things from the perspective of the relationship they hold, the connection versus individually, separate.

Although Aristotle's experts are short, they are filled with a lot of meaning. With his explanations of the ‘four causes’, it is critical to analyze that they can be used in our daily lives. They can be utilized to explain things such as how the government works and why they do, what they do as the people and nation evolve.

The last cause is the final cause where the object has well established purpose or goal. Aristotle said everything is for sack of the end (13). The final cause is his last cause where the product is completed. For example, when the wood is used and formed by a specialist to become a cup where the main purpose of the cup is holding the fluid. Here the main goal of the cup is the final cause. The modern science would oppose his idea of final cause with that everything is constantly changing where there is no fixed end.

U28189561 1)Aristotle believes that there are four causes( material, formal, efficient, and final). The final cause equates to being the aptitude of a thing to perform the action for which it was created to perform.195a 2)Our first example will be drawings of known people. The final cause of which would be to spark the recollection of the real person. This is what the picture was created for (to do). A badly drawn picture will inspire less recollection of the person then a well drawn picture making its final cause less effective but still present.

The anagnorisis is the moment when a character in the tragedy has an important discovery, goes from ignorant to knowledgable. As the King’s hamartia, which is his pride, leads him plant to kill the servant to be sure that his lineage remains ‘royal’. However because of a switch of potions, he believes that he has killed his daughter, the princess. This death causes a chain reaction which results in the suicide of the servant as well as the queen. When the king has his anagnorisis and realizes that he is the reason for all these deaths he says “My life no longer has any meaning”. He feels remorse for what he has done and the proceeds to commit suicide as retribution.

The theory of the Four Causes refers to an influential Aristotelian principle whereby the causes of movement and/or change are categorized allowing us to have knowledge of our existence and everything around us. Aristotle wrote that "we do not have knowledge of a thing until we have grasped its ‘why’, that is to say, its cause." He provided an account of the operation of various individual substances in the universe. Distinctions were made between things of two sorts: those that are contingent on something else’s movement and those that necessary in their own movement. Aristotle not only suggested a proper description of these but also attempted to answer particular questions such as ‘Why does this event happen?’ and ‘Why is this object as

Aristotle defined nature “as an internal origin of change or stability”1. Natural substances are things such as animals, plants and inanimate matter like earth, water, fire and air. Each natural substance according to Aristotle has its own nature, which is what gives rise to its natural behaviour/characteristic. The nature of a natural substance is its inner principle/source of change.2

As Aristotle saw his general surroundings, he watched that things are moving and changing in certain ways. Aristotle found that specific things cause different things, which thusly bring about something else. Aristotle trusted that a boundless chain of causation was unrealistic, subsequently, a prime mover or some likeness thereof should exist as the main source of everything that progressions or moves.