The Four Causes: Humans

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The Four Causes are answers that Aristotle would give to questions that deal with change. This change is something we are acquainted with in our everyday lives. As we discussed in class, Aristotle believed in the nature of the world being imperfect, always changing, and leading a theme of growth and decay. He focused his ideas on the basis of change, and that everything is constantly maturing, growing and attempting to flourish. If an object does not flourish and reach it’s purpose, then it has not led a good existence. From his naturalistic view, one can begin to determine how he would define a human. The Four Causes helps to answer the question “What is a human?” by addressing four separate questions. The first question would be, “What is it going to be made of?” This is the material cause. The second cause, known as the formal cause, answers the question, “What is it that is being made?” The third question, the efficient cause, answers, “Who made it?” Lastly, the final cause answers, “What purpose is it intended to fulfill?” (Newman, 1-2). We can begin to attempt to define what a human being is by using these four questions. To begin, as previously stated, the first cause addresses the materials that are required to formulate an object. In the case of a human, there are countless different materials that combine to create the final being. The creation of a human being, on a biological level, begins when a sperm meets with an egg and fertilizes it. This fetus then grows and matures in the uterus of a woman and begins to develop all of the materials that define it as human. On a cellular level, humans contain many different cells, ranging from blood cells to nerve cells. We have organs, bones, blood, hair, and many other different materials that come together to form one being. Moving away from the biological standpoint, on the philosophical
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