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serve as one component of the formal cause. They are fi ltered through
the mind of the architect, where they are particularized by various de-
sign contingencies (there needs to be sunlight in the morning room, the
conference room needs to accommodate a group of fi fty, etc.), as well as
his or her own values, tastes, and ideas.
Formal causality operates through an idea or vision of the com-
pleted whole, which will undergo change and elaboration as the process
of creation unfolds; that is, there is a reciprocal relationship between
the formal cause and the work in progress. The formal cause for a thing
may be muddy or clear, constant or highly evolutionary, but it is al-
ways present.
Material cause:
The material cause of a thing is what it's made of. So,
to pursue the architecture example, the material cause of a building in-
cludes stones or concrete or wood, glass, nails, mortar, and so on. Note
that the properties of the materials infl uence the properties of the struc-
ture; e.g., wood is more fl exible than steel, but steel is stronger.
Effi cient cause:
The effi cient cause of a thing is the way in which it is
actually made. This includes both the maker(s) and the tools. For in-
stance, two buildings with the same architectural plan and the same
materials created by different builders with different skills and tools
will differ in terms of their effi cient cause.
End cause:
The end cause of a thing is its purpose—what it is intended
to
do
in the world once it's completed. In architecture, a building is
intended to accommodate people, living or working or playing or per-
forming operas or whatever, according to the kind of building it is.
Now let's apply these four causes to the theatre:
Formal cause:
The completed plot; that is, the
whole action—with a be-
ginning, middle, and end
—that the playwright is trying to represent. The
“whole action” subsumes notions of form and genre and the patterns
that defi ne them.
Material cause:
The stuff a play is made up of—the sounds and sights
of the actors as they move about on the stage. Note that the material of
a play is not words, as one might think from reading a script. That's be-
cause plays are intended to be acted out, and there's more to enactment
