PHLC05H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Billiard Ball, Nicomachean Ethics, Eudaimonia
PHL C05H3Y Ethical Theory
University of Toronto at Scarborough
Professor Victoria I. Burke
Supplementary Notes: Aristotle on the “Four Causes”
Aristotle believed that there were four different types of causality. This importantly
distinguishes Aristotle from modern philosophers beginning with Descartes, who only
recognize one type of causality, “efficient causality” (see below).
The Greek word “cause” (aition) carries the meaning of “responsibility for.” The four
causes are thus the four ways in which we can say that something has “responsibility for”
something else—some action, state, or change for which the “cause” has responsibility.
Formal Cause (eidos or to ti on einai): this is the form, essence, or “what it is” of a
thing. The formal cause is that which without which a thing would no longer be what it
is. In the case of a baseball bat, the formal cause would be the structure, that which if
removed would change what the baseball bat is such that it is no longer a baseball bat.
Efficient Cause or Origin of Movement ( arche kinesis): the origin of change or
development in a thing. For example, when a change of location is caused in a billiard
ball, the cue that strikes it is the efficient cause or the origin of movement of the billiard
ball. In a created object, an artifact, the efficient cause or origin of movement is external
to the object itself, an idea in the mind of a craftsman who created the billiard ball or the
billiard player who moves it with a cue.
Final Cause (telos): the purpose for which a thing is made or for which an action is
performed. In the case of a baseball bat, the final cause would be the baseball game. In
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the final cause of human life is flourishing, ultimately
“the good” in itself (eudaimonia), although normally individual actions aim more directly
at specific goods.
Material Cause or Matter (hule): that substance out of which a thing is made. The
material cause of a baseball bat would be the wood out of which it is made. The material
cause of the baseball game would be the players and the equipment.
Document Summary
Aristotle believed that there were four different types of causality. This importantly distinguishes aristotle from modern philosophers beginning with descartes, who only recognize one type of causality, efficient causality (see below). Formal cause (eidos or to ti on einai): this is the form, essence, or what it is of a thing. The formal cause is that which without which a thing would no longer be what it is. In the case of a baseball bat, the formal cause would be the structure, that which if removed would change what the baseball bat is such that it is no longer a baseball bat. Efficient cause or origin of movement ( arche kinesis): the origin of change or development in a thing. For example, when a change of location is caused in a billiard ball, the cue that strikes it is the efficient cause or the origin of movement of the billiard ball.
