The role of causality in Aristotle’s views on reality and existence

As soon as #aristotle passed away in 322 BC, the enormous importance of his contributions got lost for most people. Only a superficial knowledge of his #philosophy remained such as the concepts of potentiality and actuality. To the detriment of civilisation, the pillar of Aristotle’s ideas was rapidly undermined, lost and forgotten. I am talking about causality, a concept that plays a pivotal role in Aristotle’s views on the nature of reality and existence. “Nature does nothing in vain,” wrote Aristotle in his work titled “Physics.” He meant that every entity and creature can be analysed according to its constituent substance (material cause) and its shape (formal cause), which together define its identity, from which we can infer its purpose (final cause) and source of energy or movement (efficient cause). According to Aristotle, the whole universe, every entity and creature, are striving to attain their purpose. Nothing is taking place randomly. The whole world is self-propelling and creates its own motivation. From Aristotle’s standpoint, #causality is identity in motion. I must say however that causality doesn’t mean predestination. A man may have the goal of becoming wealthy, but this does not mean that his path is predetermined, nor that he will acquire all the #virtues and habits necessary to achieve his goal. Causality only means that a man can use his skills (his mind which has the capability to think rationally) to figure out ways to achieve his goal, and put in the effort required to complete the steps. Nonetheless, it doesn’t guarantee success nor that the goal will deliver perfect satisfaction. What causality does deliver is motivation, steadiness, focus, energy and hope. It helps you make the right decisions and stay away from distractions. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/the-role-of-causality-in-aristotles-views-on-the-nature-of-reality-and-existence/