| 释义 |
formal causenoun Philosophy(In Aristotelian thought) the pattern which determines the form taken by something.The four aspects are the formal cause, the material cause, the efficient cause, and the final cause....- Aristotle then links essence with his theory of causes, being identified variously with its final cause and with its formal cause.
- Aristotle, however, does not regard efficient causes as radically different from material and formal causes.
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