Aristotle’s Machine

If a child asks you, “Why is this statue right here?”
You can’t just yell “Magic!” and go drink a beer.
You must be the scholar, dissecting the whole,
To find every reason that’s playing a role.
If you want to know why any object is born,
From the shoes on your feet to the sheep that is shorn,
You must pass it through Aristotle’s machine!
The finest analysis Athens has seen.
We start at the bottom, the stuff on the floor,
The glass in the window, the wood in the door.
It’s the bronze of the hero, the flesh of the king,
The Material Cause is the stuff of the thing!

You’ve got the Material! You’ve got the Formal!
Without them, the universe wouldn’t be normal!
You’ve got the Efficient! You’ve got the Final!
The blueprint, the builder, the brass, and the idol!
If you want to know how or know why it’s around,
These are the fundamental causes we found!

But a mountain of lumber is never a boat,
If you throw it in water, it isn’t gonna float!
It needs an arrangement, a structural plan,
A brilliant schematic drawn up by a man.
The matter is useless without a good shape,
A pile of silk doesn’t make it a cape!
The Formal Cause enters to give it a face,
To pull the raw matter right into its place.
It’s the shape of the table, the curve of the bowl,
The mathematical ratio making it whole!

Now… the wood and the blueprint are sitting alone.
They’re not gonna magically jump to a throne.
You need a mechanic, a sculptor, a smith,
To shatter the stillness and bust up the myth!
The Efficient Cause is the sweat and the tool,
The chisel that’s striking the stone for the fool.
It’s the carpenter swinging the hammer with might,
The primary trigger that started the fight.
It’s the “Who did the pushing and pulling?” my friend,
The physical motion that brings about the end!

But why did the sculptor pick up the old knife?
What is the ultimate point of this life?
You don’t swing a hammer for nothing at all,
You’re building a shelter, you’re building a wall!
The Final Cause dictates the Telos, the goal,
The ultimate purpose that pulls on the soul.
The acorn is driven to turn to a tree,
And the ship is constructed for sailing the sea!
It’s the “Sake for which” everything comes to exist,
The grand destination that cannot be missed!

So what is a house?!
The Material is bricks!
The Formal is the blueprint that the architect picks!
The Efficient is the mason who is laying the stone!
And the Final is the shelter so you’re never alone!
Exactly!
Ha Ha Ha
Exactly!