Much of his work in the Physics and Metaphysics is dedicated to articulating an exhaustive account of causation. that serious reflection concerning the nature of causation arose – with Aristotle's famous discussion of causation in Book 2 of his Physics. The result was Aristotle's doctrine of four types (or, perhaps, aspects) of causes – material, formal, efficient, and final. Aristotle thinks that we understand something when we know its causes. The material aspect of Aristotle complicates matters by claiming that there are four causes, which have come to be known as the formal, material, final, and efficient causes. b. Aristotle's Four Causes Aristotle held that any contingent event (particularly a material event) was explainable in principle. However, since Aristotle was the first philosopher to give an extensive account of causes, I will start my discussion with his theory. That is, for Aristotle there are no uncaused contingent events in the universe. ... period (genetic approach), where the early period follows Plato’s theory of forms and soul, the middle rejects Plato, and the later period (which includes most of his treatises) is more empirically oriented. Aristotle, Physics II 9 In Chapter 3, Aristotle presents his theory of four causes (material, effective, formal and and Material reason explains what something consists of (e.g. This is misleading in several ways: a. at Stagirus, a Greek colony and seaport on the coast of Thrace. Only one of Aristotle’s causes (the “efficient” cause) sounds even remotely like a Humean cause. One of the first documented attempts to present a rigorous theory of causation came from the Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle (384–322 BC). Aristotle developed a theory of causality commonly referred to as the The interventionist account hypothesizes that there is a connection between causation and human intervention: the idea of a causal relation between two events is generated by the reflection of human beings on their own operating. Causality is one of the most hotly debated topics in philosophy (contemporary and historical). He produced a scheme of four fundamental (or irreducible) causes which he believed were required to fully understand an object and any change it may… conviction that the only type of causation relevant to the scientific enterprise was the type Aristotle had isolated and described as efficient cause. A good deal of the theoretical work in the theory of causality has been developed by several, well known philosophers. Aristotle's thoughts on causality are a product of his grander musings on the nature of change. ARISTOTLE: FOUR TYPES OF EXPLANATION The most important passages where Aristotle discussed his theory of ‘causation’ are to be found in his Posterior Analytics, his Physics, and his Metaphysics. Richard Taylor summarized the historical development in Edwards’ Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1967): The concepts of material and formal causes are archaic and now have little Consider, for example, the construction of a house. 1.1. Aristotle was born in 384 B.C. It is natural for us (post-Humeans) to think of causes in terms of cause-and-effect. 1. According to Aristotle but contrary to most recent approaches, causation and explanation cannot be understood sepa-rately. Aristotle’s doctrine of the four causes is crucial, but easily misunderstood. I will argue for the similarity between some aspects of Aristotle’s doctrine of causes and a particular kind of interventionist theory of causality. 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