Aristotle’s theory of causality

It is not easy to summarize the work of a lifetime in one sentence, especially when the person in question has written one and a half million words. However, in Aristotle’s case, we do not even need a full sentence to summarize his teachings. We can do it in just one word: causality.Aristotle (384-322 BC) is not only one of the three most influential philosophers in history, but the creator of a brand-new mentality. The other two key philosophers, Plato and Kant, cannot claim the same honor.Through keen observation and logic, Aristotle arrived at the conclusion that everything in the natural world has a purpose and a cause. When I say “everything,” I really mean everything tangible or intangible, whether in the past, in the present or in the future.What is Aristotle’s theory of causality? It’s widely known as “the theory of the four causes” because that’s the name that monks gave it in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance.Aristotle named the four causes as follows: the material cause, the formal cause, the efficient cause, and the final cause. The latter is particularly interesting because it links the events of the world to human motivation.There are two unique aspects of Aristotle’s final causation. One, the fact that no prior thinker (neither in Greece nor anywhere else) had come up with the concept, not even Socrates or Plato.The second unique aspect is that the study of final causation is laying down the foundation for rational discussions on ethics and happiness. I must underline the word “rational” because, in contrast to prior philosophers, Aristotle strived to identify the good life by using reason, not feelings or intuitions.Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/aristotles-theory-of-causality/