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Background
Background
In the Posterior Analytics, as well as showing how we can use syllogisms connect and understand things, Aristotle gives another way of learning - through defining things. But he had a particular kind of definition in mind. He thought that if you were going to define something, you needed to give a full account of it - be able to explain exactly what it was. Aristotle thought that there were four kinds of explanations. Traditionally, these are called Aristotle’s four ‘causes’ but that is a confusing translation. It is much easier to understand them as four kinds of explanation, or the four ‘becauses’ or answers to ‘why…?’ questions. These four ‘becauses’ laid the foundations for and directed the advancement of science.
Four kinds of explanations
Four kinds of explanations
He discusses these four kinds of explanations in different places in his work in slightly different ways, but the gist is the same. In each of the following quotations, I’ve added the bullet points and bold type:
Plainly, then, these are the causes, and this is how many they are. They are four, and the student of nature should know them all, and it will be his method, when stating on account of what, to get back to them all:
the matter,
the form,
the thing which effects the change, and
what the thing is for.
‘Cause’ means:
in one sense, that as the result of the material of which something is—e.g. the bronze of a statue and the silver of a cup, and the classes which contain these;
in another sense, the form or pattern; that is, the essential formula and the classes which contain it—e.g. the ratio 2:1 and number in general is the cause of the octave—and the parts of the formula.
The source of the first beginning of change or rest; e.g. the man who plans is a cause, and the father is the cause of the child, and in general that which produces is the cause of that which is produced, and that which changes of that which is changed.
The same as ‘end’; i.e. the final cause; e.g., as the “end” of walking is health. For why does a man walk? “To be healthy,” we say, and by saying this we consider that we have supplied the cause. All those means towards the end which arise at the instigation of something else, as, e.g. fat-reducing, purging, drugs and instruments are causes of health;
We think we have scientific knowledge when we know the cause, and there are four causes:
the definable form,
an antecedent which necessitates a consequent,
the efficient cause,
the final cause.
Hence each of these can be the middle term of a proof…
—Aristotle, Posterior Analytics, book 2Instead of talking about matter or material, in Posterior Analytics, Aristotle talks about the ‘antecedent which necessitates a consequent’. I suppose that this is because we might need to explain something which isn’t necessarily a physical object as such. For example, ‘sleep’ isn’t an object, it’s a state. So he means something like the kind or category of thing it is - the genus and differentia.
A Summary of the four ‘causes’ with examples
So we can put all this together. We can explain things in terms of…
The Material or Genus and differentia - we answer the question by referring to the material that something is made out of, or what kind of thing it is. For example,
‘Why is this table hard?’ – ‘because it is made out of wood.’
‘Why does this feel cold?’ – ‘because it is made out of metal.’
‘Sleep is the state of an animal at rest.’
‘A number is an arithmetical value expressed in words or symbols’.
‘A clock is a mechanical or digital object normally made from plastic and metal.’
The efficient cause or the thing which effects change or the source of change. What causes something to happen? For example,
‘Why is the pencil on the floor?’ – ‘because Dave dropped it’.
‘Why does the Sun go down in the evening?’ – ‘because the earth rotates’
The definable form or pattern. We can explain something in terms of a formula, rule, or definition. For example,
‘Why does this shape have 3 sides?’ – ‘Because it is a triangle’.
‘Why does x=5’ – ‘because x=2+3’
‘Why did you call Dave a bachelor?’ – ‘because he is an unmarried man’.
The final cause, the end, or what the thing is for. We can explain something in terms of purpose or function, in terms of reasons. For example,
‘The eye is the organ which enables an animal to see’.
‘Why is the heart important?’ – ‘because it pumps blood around the body.’
‘Why is the knife sharp?’ – ‘So it can cut things’.
‘Why were you late?’ – ‘because I wanted to go to the toilet.’
Syllogisms and Definitions
Syllogisms and Definitions
In Posterior Analytics, Aristotle argues that we can use any of the four causes as the middle term in a syllogism - whether or not this is very informative depends upon what you're trying to say. For example, the following isn't that informative:
Clocks are mechanical device
Some mechanical devices can be used to tell the time
∴ some clocks can be used to tell the time
He argues that the most informative syllogism form is All As are Bs, All Bs are Cs, ∴ All As are Cs
As well as being useful for syllogism, Aristotle also writes that we can learn things through particular kinds of definitions that take into account most of these kinds of explanations. He provides a particular kind of formula for giving these definitions. Firstly we provide the material cause, and then we provide the final cause - if there is no final cause then we can give the efficient cause instead. The definition as a whole he considers to be the formal cause.
For example:
A clock is a mechanical device, normally made of plastic and/or metal that we use for telling the time.
If we can define something in this way, then we probably can say that we understand it.
Tasks
Tasks
Explain each of the four causes of Aristotle and give two new examples of each.
Think of three different things for your friend to define, and then define three different things that your friend has chosen for you. These things do not need to be something concrete and physical - they can be abstract too.
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