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efficient cause
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efficient cause

In Aristotle's philosophy, one of the four causes of things. The efficient cause of a man, according to Aristotle, is his father. The other three causes of a man are material cause (flesh), formal cause (the form of man), and final cause (the end, or purpose, of human life).

Only two of Aristotle's causes answer to English usage: the efficient and the final causes. The Greek word translated as ‘cause’ means something more like ‘responsible factor’ or ‘necessary condition’.



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Efficient causes referrer to the energy of and resources behind events.
This, however, cannot go on to infinity, says Aquinas, "because in all efficient causes following in order, the first is the cause of the intermediate cause," which, being either one or several, is the cause of the ultimate effect.
 
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