What are the four causes according to Aristotle?

Answer 1

The audience of a tragedy should feel fear that the fate of the tragic hero could be theirs, too.

The audience should feel pity for the tragic hero and fear that the same fate could befall them.

There are four distinct kinds of cause:

1. Material cause: "that out of which a thing comes to be, and which persists"

a) The statue is made of bronze

b) Bronze things are malleable

The statue is malleable.

2. Formal cause: "the essence," "the account of what-it-is- to-be, and the parts of the account."

a) The moon is deprived of light when screened by the earth

b) Things deprived of light by screening are eclipsed

The moon is eclipsed.

3. Efficient cause: "the primary source of change"

a) The child has a snub nosed father

b) Children of snub nosed fathers are snub nosed

The child is snub nosed.

4. Final cause: "the end (telos), that for the sake of which a thing is done"

a) Houses are shelters for belongings

b) Shelters for belongings are roofed

Houses are roofed.

Answer 2

According to Aristotle, the four causes are the material cause (what something is made of), the formal cause (the design or structure of something), the efficient cause (the agent or force that brings something into being), and the final cause (the purpose or end goal of something).