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Definition:
In his famous work Physics, Aristotle outlined four different types of causes,
and hence four different types of reasons why something can come to exist:
1. Material Cause: the "stuff" from which something is made.
2. Formal Cause: the "structure" or "pattern" which something has.
3. Efficient Cause (causa quod): the agent which imposed the structure or pattern on something.
4. Final (Teleological) Cause (causa ut): the purpose which something has.
We can see each of these causes in, for example, a marble statue. The material cause is the marble from which it is made; the formal cause is the shape the statue has; the efficient cause is the sculptor who worked on the marble; the final cause is whatever purpose the sculptor had in mind - aesthetic beauty, for example.
Since Aristotle, philosophers have described other types of causes:
Necessary Cause: a cause which is required for an event to occur.
Free Cause: the opposite of necessary cause, this is a cause which is not compelled to act regardless of the conditions.
Equivocal Cause: a cause which produces something which has a very different nature from itself.
Univocal Cause: the opposite of equivocal cause, this is a cause which produces an effect which is similar to itself in nature.
Proximate Cause: a cause which produces the effect immediately and directly, by virtue of its own actions and without intermediaries.
Remote Cause: a cause which produces an effect at some distance and through imtermediate steps.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
Related Resources:
What is the Logic and the Philosophy of Language?
The two fields Logic and the Philosophy of Language are often treated separately, but they are nevertheless close enough that they are presented together here. Logic is the study of methods of reasoning and argumentation, both proper and improper. The Philosophy of Language, on the other hand, involves the study of how our language interacts with our thinking.What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? Is there any point in studying philosophy, or is it a useless subject? What are the different branches of philosophy - what's the difference between aestheitcs and ethics? What's the difference between metaphysics and epistemology?
