Aristotle: Causes Flashcards
What did Aristotle open his book ‘Metaphysics’ with?
‘All men desire to know’
What did Dante call Aristotle?
‘The master of those who know’
What did Aristotle disagree with?
Plato and the World of Forms
What did Aristotle believe?
Knowledge rests on careful observation and people need philosophers to understand the world.
What was Aristotle interested in?
Why things have a cause and effect
What did Aristotle think about Forms?
He rejected Plato’s idea that things have an ideal Form. Things have a form, but in a different sense.
How did Aristotle explain Forms?
Says there are four different types of form (The Four Causes) which explains why everything exists.
What is a material cause?
What something is made of, without this it couldn’t exist (e.g., wood)
What is a formal cause?
The shape. Each item has its own form (e.g., seat, legs)
What is a efficient cause?
Who makes the object (e.g., human/carpenter)
What is a final cause?
The purpose to why it exists (e.g., to sit on)
