Four causes#Formal cause

The causa formalis ( in German: formal cause ) is a term used by Aristotle, who thus describes an internal cause. It consists in the form of (Greek idea or eidos ), the structure or pattern that is found in being. The bronze statue, for example, arises from the fact that the bronze is designed in the shape of the statue.

According to Aristotle, there are four causes. The remaining three ( complementary ) causes are:

• Material cause ( material cause)
• Efficient cause ( efficient cause )
• Causa finalis ( final cause )

The scholastic philosophy identified causa formalis often with causa exemplaris ( the copy source ), which is largely identical to the Platonic idea (Greek idea). The distinction between material cause and causa formalis is a relative. So the bronze itself is composed of a fabric and a special bronze form, as well as the bronze statue can serve as matter, such as in the manufacture of jewelry.

• Metaphysics
• Ontology
• Aristotle