Cause and Explanation in Aristotle: Logos, Eidos, and Tropos

The aim of this chapter is to propose a reconstruction of the Aristotelian notion of aitia. I will attempt to justify that, through this notion, Aristotle proposes a doctrine regarding the different ways to explain something, which is not necessarily linked to a specific cosmology. If we read closely his exposition about what is an aitia and the classifications according to their eidos and their tropos, we find a fruitful theory both from a historical and from a thematic point of view. This can be justified by identifying the methodological moment in which its exposition is found and in the kind of examples used. To prove this thesis, I will comment some passages of Ph. II 3 and Metaph. V 1–3 in order to show what is common between species and modes of aitiai. After that, I will analyze these classifications and attempt to show that they provide us with a wide variety of options to answer the question about why something is the case. I will also try to prove that they are not necessarily linked to a specific physics or cosmology. ©Routledge