---
title: "Aristotle | Greek philosophy | Thought Archive"
number: "041"
slug: "041-aristotle"
author: "Wenzi / 文子"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://tongzai.space/en/thought-archive/041-aristotle/"
is_primary_text: true
---

# Aristotle（Greek philosophy）



## Common research question

**How do Aristotle's four causes explain things?**

Aristotle's four causes are explanatory dimensions—material, formal, efficient, and final—not four independent agents pushing on an object. In natural things they may overlap. A final cause concerns what something is for in the relevant explanation; it is not automatically a divine plan imposed from outside.

## Interpretive boundary

Physics and Metaphysics have different contexts; retain the argumentative setting of each term.

## Archive evidence

- [E-03 ｜ Physics II.3, 194b16–195a3](#E-03)
- [E-04 ｜ Physics II.1, 192b8–23](#E-04)