The Four Causes in Demonstration and Definition

2021 ◽  
pp. 264-282
Keyword(s):  
Four Causes

Aristotle's Four Causes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Hennig
Keyword(s):  
Four Causes

Aristotle on Principles as Elements

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Malink
Keyword(s):  
Four Causes

In his discussion of the four causes, Aristotle claims that ‘the hypotheses are material causes of the conclusion’ (Physics 2. 3, MetaphysicsΔ‎ 2). This claim has puzzled commentators since antiquity. It is usually taken to mean that the premisses of any deduction are material causes of the conclusion. By contrast, I argue that the claim does not apply to deductions in general but only to scientific demonstrations. For Aristotle, the theorems of a given science are composites consisting of the indemonstrable premisses from which they are demonstrated. Accordingly, these premisses are elements, and hence material causes, of the theorems. In this way, Aristotle’s claim can be shown to be well motivated and illuminating.

scholarly journals Monitoring progress with national and subnational health goals by integrating verbal autopsy and medically certified cause of death data

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. e005387
Author(s):  
Tim Adair ◽  
Sonja Firth ◽  
Tint Pa Pa Phyo ◽  
Khin Sandar Bo ◽  
Alan D Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Verbal Autopsy ◽  
Integration Method ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Vital Statistics ◽  
Death Registration ◽  
Chronic Respiratory Diseases ◽  
Health Goals ◽  
Specific Mortality ◽  
Four Causes

IntroductionThe measurement of progress towards many Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and other health goals requires accurate and timely all-cause and cause of death (COD) data. However, existing guidance to countries to calculate these indicators is inadequate for populations with incomplete death registration and poor-quality COD data. We introduce a replicable method to estimate national and subnational cause-specific mortality rates (and hence many such indicators) where death registration is incomplete by integrating data from Medical Certificates of Cause of Death (MCCOD) for hospital deaths with routine verbal autopsy (VA) for community deaths.MethodsThe integration method calculates population-level cause-specific mortality fractions (CSMFs) from the CSMFs of MCCODs and VAs weighted by estimated deaths in hospitals and the community. Estimated deaths are calculated by applying the empirical completeness method to incomplete death registration/reporting. The resultant cause-specific mortality rates are used to estimate SDG Indicator 23: mortality between ages 30 and 70 years from cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. We demonstrate the method using nationally representative data in Myanmar, comprising over 42 000 VAs and 7600 MCCODs.ResultsIn Myanmar in 2019, 89% of deaths were estimated to occur in the community. VAs comprised an estimated 70% of community deaths. Both the proportion of deaths in the community and CSMFs for the four causes increased with older age. We estimated that the probability of dying from any of the four causes between 30 and 70 years was 0.265 for men and 0.216 for women. This indicator is 50% higher if based on CSMFs from the integration of data sources than on MCCOD data from hospitals.ConclusionThis integration method facilitates country authorities to use their data to monitor progress with national and subnational health goals, rather than rely on estimates made by external organisations. The method is particularly relevant given the increasing application of routine VA in country Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems.

Aquinas's Explanatory Framework: The Four Causes

2019 ◽  
pp. 21-48
Author(s):  
Robert Pasnau ◽  
Christopher Shields
Keyword(s):  
Explanatory Framework ◽  
Four Causes

scholarly journals The Four Causes of Behavior

2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 136-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter R. Killeen
Keyword(s):  
Four Causes

Aristotle's Four Causes of Action

2018 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan C. Reece
Keyword(s):  
Four Causes

The Early Moderns

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Clatterbaugh
Keyword(s):  
Causal Explanations ◽  
Efficient Cause ◽  
The World ◽  
Four Causes ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Idea Of God

The early moderns confronted an abundance of causes and types of causal explanations. From Aristotle through the Scholastics they had inherited the doctrine of the four causes, that is, depending upon context the material, formal, final, or efficient cause provides the proper explanation or answer to a ‘Why?’ question. From the Christianization of Aristotle's Unmoved Mover they had inherited the idea of God as creator of the universe. And to the creator role had been added the idea of providence whereby God in some sense ‘manages’ the world of mundane events. Aquinas had actually identified God as the efficient cause of all things.

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