Aristotle viewed cause from a wider perspective. A cause for Aristotle is not simple but compound in nature consisting mainly of four factors.
Besides, such factors are not interdependent in the production of the effect. On the other hand each of the four factors has the legitimacy to be treated as a cause by itself. So Aristotle virtually believes in four kinds of causes, namely I) material cause ii) formal cause iii) efficient cause, and IV) final cause.
Material cause of a thing is the matter or the substance out of which the effect is produced. Thus for example, cement, sand, bricks etc. constitute the material cause of a building. The building is constructed out of these materials. So sand, cement, brick etc. form the material cause of the building.
Formal cause of an effect means the new shape or the form that is given on the substance for the production of an object or effect.
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Clay is materially necessary for creating a utensil; say a pot, a statue or a brick. So it is on this clay that the form of a pot, or of a statue or of a brick is imposed. So the form of the statue is formal cause for without it the clay would have remained as clay only.
Efficient cause is the skill or the energy necessary for producing the effect. The cement, bricks etc. cannot take the form of a building. It is the skill or the brain of the architect that has created a Konark or a building.
The agent who applies the form to the material is the efficient cause. In making a gold-ring, the maker is the efficient cause, the form of the ring is the formal cause, and gold is the material cause.
The final cause of a thing is the very purpose for which the change is brought in. The purpose behind the production of the effect is the final cause of the thing.
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The very idea or purpose for which the entire project has been taken in is considered to be the final cause. The purpose behind the making of a gold-ring is to wear it in a finger. This purpose is the final cause.
It is to be noted in this regard that the formal and the material causes are intrinsic in nature as they are very much present in the constitution of the thing in question. But the efficient and the final causes are extrinsic in nature as they are external to the concerned thing.