ABOUT CAUSES BY ARISTOTLE

Abstract

The substancial matter of Aristotle’s Physics is the question about motion, which should be understood from a causal point of view: there’s a cause for everything that is or comes to be.The science of Physics should inquire of natural beings, which have the principle motion by themselves. Although cause is understood many senses, the question about motion demands the concerning about different causes, those that should be attributed to four more known modes, namely, matter, form, it that has begun motion and end. From these four main modes, Aristotle founds a science about the physical world. After presenting the four causes doctrine, however, he considers necessary to inquire about chance and spontaneity, also called accidental causes of accidental beings and events. We aim to plot out in this paper some considerations about relation between the four more known modes of cause and accidental causes and also how accidental causes prevent the existence of an absolute finalism in the physical sublunary world. KEY WORDS: Motion. Cause. Accidental cause.