Home The Four Causes Revisited: A Scholastic Framework for Analyzing Human Affairs
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

The Four Causes Revisited: A Scholastic Framework for Analyzing Human Affairs

  • Mohammadhosein Bahmanpour-Khalesi ORCID logo , Mohammadjavad Sharifzadeh EMAIL logo and Reza Akbari
Published/Copyright: March 19, 2025

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.


Corresponding author: Mohammadjavad Sharifzadeh, Associate Professor of Economics, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran, E-mail:

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.Search 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).Search 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).Search in Google Scholar

Aquinas, T.St. 2001 [1269–72]. The De Malo of Thomas Aquinas. New York: Oxford University Press. (Trans. R. J. Regan).Search in Google Scholar

Aquinas, T.St. 2014 [1485]. The Summa Theologica, Complete Edition. London: Catholic Way Publishing.Search in Google Scholar

Aquinas, T.St. 2017 [1252–56]. Commentary on the Sentences, Book IV, 14–25. Ohio: Emmaus Academic. (Trans. B. Mortensen).Search 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.Search in Google Scholar

Aristotle. 2002. Posterior Analytics. New York: Oxford University Press. (Trans. J. Barnes).Search in Google Scholar

Billuart, C. R. 1880. Summa Sancti Thomae Hodiernis Academiarum Moribus Accommodate, Vol. t.2. Paris: Sumptibus Letouzey et Ané.Search 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.Search 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.Search 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/9780199935314.013.6Search 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.Search in Google Scholar

Davidson, D. 1963. “Actions, Reasons, and Causes.” The Journal of Philosophy 60 (23): 685–700. https://doi.org/10.2307/2023177.Search 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.Search in Google Scholar

Hennig, B. 2009. “The Four Causes.” Journal of Philosophy 106 (3): 137–60. https://doi.org/10.5840/jphil200910634.Search 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.Search 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.10.1017/9781316711859.010Search in Google Scholar

John of St. Thomas. 1964 [1669]. Cursus Theologicus, Vol. t. 5. Paris: Ludovicus Vivès.Search 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).Search in Google Scholar

Lombard, P. 2010 [1158]. The Sentences-Book 2: On Creation. Canada: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. (Trans. G. Silano).Search 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.Search 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.Search 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.ctt5vj8fmSearch 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.Search in Google Scholar

Pilsner, J. 2006. The Specification of Human Actions in St Thomas Aquinas. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/0199286051.001.0001Search 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/9780199370993.003.0001Search 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.Search 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.Search 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.Search 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.Search in Google Scholar

Shields, C. J., and R. Pasnau. 2016. The Philosophy of Aquinas. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199301232.001.0001Search 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.Search 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.Search 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.Search 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.Search 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.Search in Google Scholar

Suárez, F. 1965 [1597]. Disputationes Metaphysicae, Vol. 2. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag.Search 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).Search 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/9780199782185.003.0002Search 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.Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2024-12-02
Accepted: 2025-02-06
Published Online: 2025-03-19
Published in Print: 2025-07-28

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 26.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/humaff-2024-0118/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button