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形相因 (keisouin) Japanese meaning: formal cause | Kotomora
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し
原げん
因いん
説せつ
で
は
、
形けい
相そう
因いん
は
事じ
物ぶつ
の
本ほん
質しつ
を
説せつ
明めい
する
。
In Aristotle's theory of the four causes, the formal cause explains the essence of a thing.
Kanji 相 inter-, mutual, together 因 cause, factor, be associated with Related words 質しつ 料りょう 因いん Material cause: what something is made of. Contrasts with 形相因, which is the form or essence.
作さ 用よう 因いん Efficient cause: the agent or process that brings something into being. Different from 形相因, which is the defining form.
目もく 的てき 因いん Final cause: the purpose or end for which something exists. Complements 形相因 in explaining why a thing is what it is.
Etymology From 形相 (form, idea) + 因 (cause). A technical translation of Aristotle's 'formal cause' (eidos).
