final cause

See synonyms for final cause on Thesaurus.com

nounAristotelianism.

See under cause (def. 8b).

Origin of final cause

First recorded in 1350–1400

Words Nearby final cause

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use final cause in a sentence

Resentment, for example, is an implanted instinct, of which the 'final cause' is to defend us against 'sudden violence.'
The English Utilitarians, Volume I. | Leslie Stephen
The second head to which the passions are referred with relation to their final cause, is society.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. I. (of 12) | Edmund Burke
The division of four causes also is not amiss: matter, form, the efficient, and end or final cause.
Novum Organum | Francis Bacon
The final cause of creation must be God, just as necessarily as its first cause must be God.
The Catholic World; Vol. IV.; October, 1866, to March, 1867. | E. Rameur
In it the creation returns to God as final cause, from whom it proceeds as first cause, in a mode which is metaphysically final.
The Catholic World; Vol. IV.; October, 1866, to March, 1867. | E. Rameur

British Dictionary definitions for final cause

final cause

noun

philosophy the end or purpose of a thing or process, as opposed to its efficient cause: See cause (def. 7)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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