Aristotle's Metaphysics: Substance, Form, and the Four Causes

Aristotle's Metaphysics: A New Foundation

Aristotle sought to establish new foundations for philosophy and science, moving away from the metaphysics dominated by Plato. Plato's system, which emphasized the world of Ideas as the sole reality, the transmigration of the soul, and knowledge as recollection, had long been accepted. However, Aristotle's common sense led him to identify and reject the errors of his master while retaining the successes.

The Importance of Purpose: Teleology

Plato had learned from Socrates that the explanation of things must be found in their purpose or aim. The technical term used to refer to this approach is teleology (from the Greek *telos*, meaning 'end'). Aristotle adopted this teaching permanently.

Knowing what material something is made of only gets us halfway to the truth, as the original material is common to all things. Instead, asking *what* something is leads us to understand the features that distinguish it from others. This knowledge reveals its peculiar form, which points directly to the function, purpose, or aim of the thing.

Substance: Form and Matter Inseparable

Aristotle uses Plato's fundamental idea: each object results from a combination of two principles—one amorphous and undefined (Matter), and the other providing the determinations (Form). However, Aristotle rejects the existence of a separate world of Forms. For Aristotle, the determining principle is inherent in the object itself, attached to the subject. There are only individual, specific things, which he calls substances.

The Co-Elements of Substance

Substance consists of two eternal co-elements: matter (*hyle*) and form (*morphe*). These are distinguishable only by thought, not in physical reality, where they are always inextricably linked. Aristotle resolved the problem of essence by asserting that the essence inheres within the compound substance itself.

Aristotle's Four Causes of Being

For Aristotle, four causes are involved in the existence of beings:

1. The Material Cause: The matter of which a thing is composed.
2. The Efficient Cause (or Motive Cause): The source of motion, generation, and change.
3. The Formal Cause: The kind, type, or class (the essence).
4. The Final Cause (or Teleological Cause): The goal, purpose, or full development of an individual, or the planned operation of a construction or invention.

Applying the Four Causes

In the context of a living being, a young lion is composed of tissues and organs, which constitute the Material Cause. The Efficient Cause of motion would be its parents, who created it. The Formal Cause is its species (lion). The Final Cause is its innate urge to become a mature specimen of its kind.

In different contexts, the same four causes apply by analogy. For example, regarding a marble statue:

• The marble that was carved is the Material Cause.
• The sculptor is the Efficient Cause.
• The specific shape the sculptor has given the statue (e.g., Hermes or Aphrodite) is the Formal Cause.
• Its function (being a work of art) is the Final Cause.