Published on Commens (http://www.commens.org)

Home > Quote from "New Elements (Kaina stoiceia)"

Commens
Digital Companion to C. S. Peirce
‘Material Cause’ (pub. 23.07.15-14:58). Quote in M. Bergman & S. Paavola (Eds.), The Commens Dictionary: Peirce's Terms in His Own Words. New Edition. Retrieved from http://www.commens.org/dictionary/entry/quote-new-elements-kaina-stoiceia-15.
Term: 
Material Cause
Quote: 

If the cause […] is a part of the causatum, in the sense that the causatum could not logically be without the cause, it is called an internal cause; otherwise, it is called an external cause. If the cause is of the nature of an individual thing or fact, and the other factor requisite to the necessitation of the causatum is a general principle, I would call the cause a minor, or individuating, or perhaps a physical cause. [—] The individuating internal cause is called the material cause. Thus the integrant parts of a subject or fact form its matter, or material cause.

Source: 
Peirce, C. S. (1904 [c.]). New Elements (Kaina stoiceia). MS [R] 517.
References: 
EP 2:315; NEM 4:252-3
Date of Quote: 
1904 [c.]
URL: 

http://www.commens.org/dictionary/entry/quote-new-elements-kaina-stoiceia-15