Abstract
The causal explanation of human action has received increasing attention in social studies since the latter half of the twentieth century. A key question in this context is whether Aristotle’s framework of the four causes originally applied to natural phenomena, can also be extended to human actions. Concerning a compatible perspective between free will and causality, we contend that the Scholastic contributions offer a significant advancement in addressing this question. They demonstrate that the four causes, as interpreted by Scholastic thinkers, provide a robust explanatory tool for analyzing human affairs and their dynamics. Moreover, we argue that their contributions go beyond theoretical analysis, offering a comprehensive framework for understanding how causal principles can be applied to various aspects of human experience.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to the editor and two anonymous referees for their invaluable feedback and constructive suggestions. Their expertise and thoughtful comments have significantly enhanced the earlier draft.
References
Ackrill, J. L. 1978. “Aristotle on Action.” Mind 87 (348): 595–601. https://doi.org/10.1093/mind/lxxxvii.4.595.Suche in Google Scholar
Aquinas, T.St, and T. D. V. Cajetan. 2024 [1540]. Summa Theologiae, Prima Pars: With the Commentary of Cardinal Cajetan, Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. (Trans. W. H. Marshner).Suche in Google Scholar
Aquinas, T.St. 2010 [1269–72]. “Commentary on Charity.” In Disputed Questions on Virtue, edited by C. E. Murphy. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company. (Trans. C. E. Murphy & J. Hause).Suche in Google Scholar
Aquinas, T.St. 2001 [1269–72]. The De Malo of Thomas Aquinas. New York: Oxford University Press. (Trans. R. J. Regan).Suche in Google Scholar
Aquinas, T.St. 2014 [1485]. The Summa Theologica, Complete Edition. London: Catholic Way Publishing.Suche in Google Scholar
Aquinas, T.St. 2017 [1252–56]. Commentary on the Sentences, Book IV, 14–25. Ohio: Emmaus Academic. (Trans. B. Mortensen).Suche in Google Scholar
Aristotle. 1985. “The Complete Works of Aristotle.” In Volume One and Two: The Revised Oxford Translation, edited by J. Barnes. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Aristotle. 2002. Posterior Analytics. New York: Oxford University Press. (Trans. J. Barnes).Suche in Google Scholar
Billuart, C. R. 1880. Summa Sancti Thomae Hodiernis Academiarum Moribus Accommodate, Vol. t.2. Paris: Sumptibus Letouzey et Ané.Suche in Google Scholar
Buridan, J. 2020 [1349]. “Commentary on Aristotle’s Politics.” In A Source Book on Early Monetary Thought: Writings on Money before Adam Smith, edited by E. W. Fuller. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.Suche in Google Scholar
Cajetan, T. D. V. 1882[1540]. “Commentary on the ‘Summa Theologiae.” In Sancti Thomae Aquinatis Doctoris Angelici Opera Omnia Iussu Impensaque Leonis XIII P. M, Vol. 6, edited by T. Sextus. Rome: Typografia Polyglotta S.C. de Propaganda Fide.Suche in Google Scholar
Charles, D. 2017. “Aristotle on Agency.” In In the Oxford Handbook of Topics in Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935314.013.6Suche in Google Scholar
Coope, U. 2007. “Aristotle on Action.” Aristotelian Society Supplementary 81 (1): 109–138. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8349.2007.00153.x.Suche in Google Scholar
Davidson, D. 1963. “Actions, Reasons, and Causes.” The Journal of Philosophy 60 (23): 685–700. https://doi.org/10.2307/2023177.Suche in Google Scholar
De Vitoria, F. 2010 [1528]. “On Civil Power.” In Vitoria: Political Writings, edited by A. Pagden, and J. Lawrance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Hennig, B. 2009. “The Four Causes.” Journal of Philosophy 106 (3): 137–60. https://doi.org/10.5840/jphil200910634.Suche in Google Scholar
Hoffmann, T. 2003. “Moral Action as Human Action: End and Object in Aquinas in Comparison with Abelard, Lombard, Albert, and Duns Scotus.” The Thomist: A Speculative Quarterly Review 67 (1): 73–94. https://doi.org/10.1353/tho.2003.0038.Suche in Google Scholar
Hoffmann, T. 2019. “Free Will without Choice: Medieval Theories of the Essence of Freedom.” In The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Ethics, edited by T. Williams, 194–216. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781316711859.010Suche in Google Scholar
John of St. Thomas. 1964 [1669]. Cursus Theologicus, Vol. t. 5. Paris: Ludovicus Vivès.Suche in Google Scholar
Junius, F. 2014 [1576]. A Treatise on True Theology: With the Life of Franciscus Junius. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books. (trans. D. C. Noe).Suche in Google Scholar
Lombard, P. 2010 [1158]. The Sentences-Book 2: On Creation. Canada: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. (Trans. G. Silano).Suche in Google Scholar
Margolis, J. 1970. “Puzzles Regarding Explanation by Reasons and Explanation by Causes.” The Journal of Philosophy 67 (7): 187–95. https://doi.org/10.2307/2024412.Suche in Google Scholar
McKenna, M., and D. J. Coates. 2024. In “Compatibilism”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by E. N. Zalta, and U. Nodelman. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2024/entries/compatibilism.Suche in Google Scholar
Osborne, T. M. 2014. Human Action in Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press.10.2307/j.ctt5vj8fmSuche in Google Scholar
Osborne, T. M. 2023. “Francisco De Vitoria on the Nature and Source of Civil Authority.” Review of Politics 85 (1): 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0034670522000900.Suche in Google Scholar
Pilsner, J. 2006. The Specification of Human Actions in St Thomas Aquinas. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/0199286051.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Porpora, D. V. 2014. “Who Is Responsible? Critical Realism, Market Harms, and Collective Responsibility.” In Distant Markets, Distant Harms: Economic Complicity and Christian Ethics, edited by D. Finn, 3–24. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199370993.003.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Reece, B. C. 2019. “Aristotle’s Four Causes of Action.” Australasian Journal of Philosophy 97 (2): 213–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048402.2018.1482932.Suche in Google Scholar
Schierbaum, S. 2022. “The Double Intentionality of Moral Intentional Actions: Scotus and Ockham on Interior and Exterior Acts.” Topoi 41 (1): 171–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-021-09741-6.Suche in Google Scholar
Scotus, J. D. 2017a [1302]. “The Ordinatio of Blessed.” In John Duns Scotus: Selected Writings on Ethics, edited by T. Williams. New York: Oxford University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Scotus, J. D. 2017b [1477]. “The Quodlibetal Questions.” In John Duns Scotus: Selected Writings on Ethics, edited by T. Williams. New York: Oxford University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Shields, C. J., and R. Pasnau. 2016. The Philosophy of Aquinas. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199301232.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Sousa-Lara, D. 2008a. “Aquinas on Interior and Exterior Acts: Clarifying a Key Aspect of His Action Theory.” Josephinum Journal of Theology 15 (2): 277–316.Suche in Google Scholar
Sousa-Lara, D. 2008b. “Aquinas on the Object of the Human Act: A Reading in Light of the Texts and Commentators.” Josephinum Journal of Theology 15 (2): 243.Suche in Google Scholar
Stein, N. 2011. “Causation and Explanation in Aristotle.” Philosophy Compass 6 (10): 699–707. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-9991.2011.00436.x.Suche in Google Scholar
Suárez, F. 1856a [1612]. “De Bonitate et Malitia Humanorum Actuum.” In Opera Omnia, Vol. t.4, edited by M. André, and C. Berton. Paris: Ludovicus Vivès.Suche in Google Scholar
Suárez, F. 1856b [1597]–78. “Disputationes Metaphysicae.” In Opera Omnia, Vol. 28, edited by M. André, and C. Berton. Paris: Ludovicus Vivès.Suche in Google Scholar
Suárez, F. 1965 [1597]. Disputationes Metaphysicae, Vol. 2. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag.Suche in Google Scholar
Suárez, F. 1994 [1597] In On Efficient Causality: Metaphysical Disputations, Vol. 17, 18, and 19. Michigan: Yale University Press. (Trans. A. J. Freddoso).Suche in Google Scholar
Tuozzo, T. M. 2014. “Aristotle and the Discovery of Efficient Causation.” In Efficient Causation: A History, edited by T. M. Schmaltz, 23–47. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199782185.003.0002Suche in Google Scholar
Valenzuela-Vermehren, L. 2013. “The Origin and Nature of the State in Francisco de Vitoria’s Moral Philosophy.” Ideas y Valores 62 (151): 81–103.Suche in Google Scholar
© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- The Four Causes Revisited: A Scholastic Framework for Analyzing Human Affairs
- A Qualitative Longitudinal Study on the Adaptation and Coping Strategies of Men with Testicular Cancer
- The Review of Female’s Intrasexual Competition of Birth and Motherhood in Digital Media
- Farmer-Herder Crises, Uncivil Discourses and the Politics of Nigeria’s Security Responses
- The Journey of Interest: Philosophical and Ethical Development from Ancient Rejection to the Modern Financial Crisis
- On the Need to Rethink the Way We Understand Growth: Media Evidence on Economic Growth as an Empty Signifier
- Understanding Predictors of Trust in Science Among University Students: Examining Scientific Reasoning, Cognitive Reflection, Education, and Personal Experiences with the Scientific Community
- The Moderating Role of Gender in Perceived Discrimination Levels and Political Participation of Turkish Women
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- The Four Causes Revisited: A Scholastic Framework for Analyzing Human Affairs
- A Qualitative Longitudinal Study on the Adaptation and Coping Strategies of Men with Testicular Cancer
- The Review of Female’s Intrasexual Competition of Birth and Motherhood in Digital Media
- Farmer-Herder Crises, Uncivil Discourses and the Politics of Nigeria’s Security Responses
- The Journey of Interest: Philosophical and Ethical Development from Ancient Rejection to the Modern Financial Crisis
- On the Need to Rethink the Way We Understand Growth: Media Evidence on Economic Growth as an Empty Signifier
- Understanding Predictors of Trust in Science Among University Students: Examining Scientific Reasoning, Cognitive Reflection, Education, and Personal Experiences with the Scientific Community
- The Moderating Role of Gender in Perceived Discrimination Levels and Political Participation of Turkish Women