Material Causality

Accepting the definition of Formal Causality as 'the unification of a multiplicity', and the Form-Matter distinction as one of Unity-Multiplicity--and, analogously, of Identity-Difference, Sameness-Diversity, etc.--it follows that the 'diversification of a unity' defines Material Causality. Of course, this use of the expression 'Material Causality', despite the soundness of its derivation, is quite unorthodox. However, equally unorthodox, as Deleuze's study shows, is its respect for Differentiation and analogous pluralizing processes. Furthermore, the traditional treatment of 'Matter' and 'Material', by even 'Materialists', as characterless 'stuff', reflects more a legacy of the orientation for which 'Matter' is a passive bearer of dynamic properties, including even the Dialectic, than any insight into the fundamental nature of Matter. So, the proposed definition offers a coherent fruitful alternative to both one of the most neglected concepts, and one of the emptiest concepts, of tradition.