To know a thing, says Aristotle, one must know the causes of the thing. For Aristotle, knowledge of causes provides an explanation. It's a way of understanding something. Because of the importance of causality for knowledge and understanding, Aristotle developed something like the complete doctrine of causality, distinguishing between efficient, material, formal and final causes, and later concepts of causality were derived from its analysis by omission. Aristotle's four causes provide answers to questions related to the thing to help determine knowledge of it, such as what the thing is made of, where the thing comes from, what the thing actually is, and what its aim. The purpose of the thing is used to determine the first three, in addition to the fact that the purpose is basically the same as what the thing actually is, just as the purpose of the thing is used to determine whether a thing is or not what it is. The cause necessary to acquire knowledge of a thing is the material cause. The material cause answers the question “what is the thing made of?” It’s the “of what”. An example would be a car. A car itself is made of various materials, including metal, glass, rubber and plastic. Metal makes up the body and engine, glass makes up the windows, rubber makes up the tires, and plastic makes up the car's interior components, such as the dashboard. All of these materials are used in the production of a car. The next cause is the efficient cause. The efficient cause answers the question “where does the thing come from?” » It’s the “of what”. The car begins as a thought in the mind of an automobile designer, of which the designer then sketches the shape of the car into a design model...... middle of paper ......ause is used to answer "what is that?" And finally, the final cause is used to establish "what is the purpose or function of the thing? In the car example, its material cause was metal , the rubber, glass and plastic from which it was made The effective cause was the designer from which the car was designed and the factory where it was assembled The formal reason was that it was in fact. of a car because it had four wheels, an engine and could transport people And the final cause was that its function was to transport people from one place to another The final cause is of crucial importance because it. determines the first three and can be used interchangeably with formal cause, because "what" cars and "what" cars are basically the same thing. We can now use and apply these four causes in our life in order to acquire knowledge and understanding of things..