Starter Aristotle’s Four Causes

Complete a speech bubble for Plato and Aristotle

What caused this?

Aristotle’s 4 causesLearning Outcomes

All students will be able to explain Aristotle’s 4 causes.

(grade E & D)

MOST students will be able to analyse Aristotle’s 4 causes in

relation to actuality & potentiality(grade C)

SOME students will be able to evaluate Aristotle’s 4 causes to

determine whether it proves there is a Prime Mover(grade B & A)

The world is constantly changing…

Things grow and decay…

Everything is caused by something else…

A B C Forever?

B is caused by C

A is caused by B

Is this chain of cause and

effect infinite?

Potentiality & Actuality

There are two states of being:

Potentiality – the possibility of doing something or becoming something.

Actuality – when potential is achieved.

Your Task:Give an example of a thing that has POTENTIALITY and how

it can become a thing of ACTUALITY

Making Links

For example…

• You have the potential to achieve a grade A in AS Religious Studies.

• It is not yet actualised because you haven’t achieved it yet.

Just because there is the potential does not mean it will definitely be actualised.

You have to work hard to achieve that A!

Potentiality to Actuality

The sperm and the egg have the potential to become …

But something needs to cause the sperm

and the egg to change from potentiality to

actuality.

It cannot happen on its own.

Aristotle was interested in the movement from potentiality to actuality…

He thought that everything single thing that is actualised has four causes of existence:

MaterialEfficientFormal

Final

Material Cause• The things out of which an object is created.

Efficient Cause• The way in which an object is created.

The Formal Cause• The expression, idea or plan that led to the

creation of an object. Its characteristics.

The Final Cause• The aim for which an object is created.

What caused this?

Material Cause:What is it made of?

Efficient Cause: How does it happen? Not just the person

Formal CauseWhat are its characteristics?

Final CauseWhat is it for? The purpose

What are the causes of these?

Try identifying the Four causes of the following..

Material Efficient Formal FinalCup

Chair

Clock

Gun

Watch

Beef burger

Computer

Camera

Dog

Cow

What about a human being?

What are ourMaterialEfficientFormal

Finalcauses?

What about the earth?

What are ourMaterialEfficientFormal

Finalcauses?

Everything is caused by something else…

A B C Forever?

B is caused by C

A is caused by B

Is this chain of cause and

effect infinite?

But for Aristotle this chain cannot go on forever… Who made the chain come into being?

The Prime Mover

• For Aristotle the chain of cause and effect cannot go on forever.

• So we must ask what started off the chain?

• Aristotle argued there must be a thing that started it with out itself being caused.

• An Uncaused Cause• Or the Prime (meaning first) Mover

Where is the Prime Mover?

• Everything within time and space is subject to change and we can ask of everything within the Universe, even the universe itself, what caused it to be?

• What causes everything to be or started off the chain of cause and effect must therefore be outside of time and space.

Homework

• “Aristotle has got it right.” Do you agree?

Aristotle’s 4 Causes

Review and Reflect:

Summarise what you have learnt

today.

Write 10 bullet points

Learning OutcomesAll students will be able to explain

Aristotle’s 4 causes.(grade E & D)

MOST students will be able to analyse Aristotle’s 4 causes in

relation to actuality & potentiality(grade C)

SOME students will be able to evaluate Aristotle’s 4 causes to

determine whether it proves there is a Prime Mover(grade B & A)