Causal Explanations of AIDS (From the Meaning of AIDS: Implications for Medical Science, Clinical Practice, and Public Health Policy, P 12-20, 1989, Eric T Juengst and Barbara A Koenig, eds. -- NCJ-123590)

• NCJ Number: 123592
• Author(s): J L Armstrong
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: Praeger Publishers
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using Aristotle's theory of causation, this chapter concludes that speaking or writing about the AIDS virus as being the "cause of" AIDS is not scientifically accurate.

Abstract

Aristotle's theory of causation places causes into four types: material cause, formal cause, final cause, and efficient cause. Material cause, as defined by Aristotle, is "that out of which a thing comes to be and which persists, ... e.g., the bronze of the statue, the silver of the bowl ..." He defines formal cause as "the form or the archetype, i.e., the statement of the essence ..." Final cause is defined by Aristotle as "that for the sake of which" a thing is done. He defines efficient cause as "the primary source of change or coming to rest; e.g., the man who gave advice is a cause, the father is the cause of the child, and generally what makes of what is made and what causes change of what is changed." The author of this chapter shows that by none of these definitions of cause can the HIV virus be viewed as the cause of AIDS. Science can only claim that the HIV virus is statistically linked with AIDS. 22 notes.