A noção aristotélica de causalidade.

Abstract

In this dissertation, we will try to develop and emphasize the importance of the final cause in the Aristotelian conception. To achieve this goal, we will present the excellence of Aristotle's knowledge of causes in comparison with other forms of knowledge, namely sensation, experience and memory, as well as an analysis of causation in the doctrine of some philosophers who preceded him. We will address Aristotle's critique of his predecessors' understanding of causality, highlighting those who focused on the material cause and those who went beyond it. Next, we will introduce the notion of cause as αἰτία (aitia), a term used by Aristotle to designate cause, the why of a thing in its deepest and broadest sense. We will culminate in the connection between the causes, highlighting the relationship of dependence and interaction between them. We will see that these explain transformations in the world of becoming, both through the doctrine of teleological hylemorphism and the distinction between act and potency. We will emphasize the superiority and importance of the final cause, which, when it is effected (finished), has a differentiated epistemic force, provoking a path of research and explanation of the finished thing and leading to the search for the other causes. At the end of our investigation, we will begin a dialog with Russell, in order to establish continuity in our investigation into the theme of causality.