The 4 types of causes according to Aristotle

Let's look at Aristotle's theory of causation, with explanations of the Greek philosopher's ideas.

Aristotle was a philosopher and researcher born in Ancient Greece. He is considered the father of Western philosophy along with Plato, and his ideas have had a great influence on the intellectual history of the West.

Here we will know the types of causes according to Aristotle: the formal, the material, the efficient and the final.. The author thus insists that we must know the principles of natural beings.

Aristotle's theory of the four causes and his notion of motion.

Aristotle developed a very influential theory in the history of thought: the theory of the four causes. This theory was focused on understanding movement, which according to the philosopher has a broader sense than in our language, and is synonymous with change in general.

According to him, motion can be natural or violent. If it is natural, Aristotle defines it as "every object in the universe has a proper place in nature, and he who is not in his proper place, will strive to reach it".

He considers that every change has a cause. According to Aristotle, knowledge (whether scientific or philosophical) is always knowledge by causes. is always knowledge by causes; something is known when its why (the reason for its existence) is known. (the reason for its existence), that is, the first cause. But he distinguishes up to four types of causes that explain what happens in nature.

Types of causes according to Aristotle

The types of causes according to Aristotle are the formal, the material, the efficient and the final. The first two are intrinsic (they constitute being), and the other two are considered extrinsic (they explain becoming). (they explain the becoming).

In reality and as we shall see, the four types of causes according to Aristotle are reduced to two: form and matter; matter as an indeterminate substratum, and form as the principle of all determinations. Let us get to know each of the causes according to this Greek thinker.

Formal cause

What is the form or structure of what we study? We are dealing with form. This is the cause of something insofar as it determines that something, and makes it what it is. It is the specific cause of the entity in question, that is, the cause proper to the species. It is the essence of the object or being. This cause determines the second, the matter.

If we relate this cause to learning, it would be the theories or models of learning, and they can be expressed in mathematical or computational terms.

2. Material cause

What is it composed of? This concept of Aristotle's theory of causation refers to the matter in question, the passive condition, necessary as a substrate that receives form and is maintained through change. From it something is born, arises or comes into being; it is something totally indeterminate, for example a stone, wood,....

This cause makes the world not a world of pure forms (like that of Platonic ideas) but a sensible and changing world.

Applied to learning, it also refers to neural changes, the physical changes of the nervous system that mediate learning.

3. Efficient cause

What agent produced it? It is the principle of change or motion, that agent that produces such change. In other words, it is the engine or stimulus that triggers the development process.

It is the "cause of what the thing is" (for example, that the boy is a man, or that the table is the table"). As we have seen, only this cause can set the thing in motion.

It is the necessary and sufficient conditions to produce a result in the behavior.. It is the previous experience with specific stimuli and responses that produces the change in behavior, which signals the presence of learning.

4. Final cause

What is its function or goal? It is the reality or end towards which a being is directed, the goal. It is the perfect act, the goal of a being. It is that towards which the individual is oriented. It would be like the plan considered insofar as it is not yet incorporated in the particular thing, that is, nature aspires to it but it has not yet been "achieved". It is the perfection toward which the thing tends to arrive.

Applied to human beings, this cause allows the subject to adapt to the environment. Learning mechanisms evolve because they provide a reproductive advantage.

Example

Let us think of a simple example to illustrate Aristotle's theory: imagine a statue. Following Aristotle's types of causes, the material cause would be the bronze of the statue, the formal cause would be the form of the statue, the efficient cause would be the sculptor, and the final cause would be to adorn a temple.

Bibliographical references:

• Carpio, A. (2004). Principios de filosofía: una introducción a su problemática. Buenos Aires: Glauco.
• Aristotle (2008). Metaphysics. Alianza Editorial.