Some scientists claim that science can explain everything in the world. However, Lennox asserts that some questions cannot have a scientific answer (39). Aristotle’s four causes serve as an example of how science can only partially describe an object’s nature. Aristotle mentions the following four causes: material, formal, efficient, and final. The material cause refers to the material from which the thing is made; the formal cause refers to the essence of the object; the efficient cause refers to the source which created the object; the final cause refers to the ultimate purpose the object was created.
Any object can be described in terms of Aristotle’s four causes. For example, Sarah sews a cotton bag as a gift for her sister. The material cause of the bag is cotton; the formal cause of the object is the bag’s shape; the efficient cause of the bag is Sarah making it; the final cause of the bag is being presented to Sarah’s sister. In this example, science can explain only three causes: material, formal, and efficient. A scientist can determine what the bag is made of; a mathematician can fully describe the bag’s shape; and they can tell who made the bag. However, no one except for Sarah knows the purpose of her creating the bag. The scientists are compelled to ask Sarah to answer the final cause question. Just like that, some questions must be addressed by the human mind, not science. For instance, the question “Why does the sun shine?” can be given as many answers as the number of people in the world. Science has its limits and cannot respond to all the possible questions.
Work Cited
Lennox, John. God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? Lion Hudson. 2002.