中國哲學家牟宗三提出，《中庸》記載到「誠者，物之終始，不誠無物」  。牟宗三認為，由成物之始嘅角度嚟睇，就係亞氏嘅「動力因」；由成物之終角度嚟睇，就係亞氏嘅「目的因」。一物嘅完成，就包含咗「形式因」；而終始就緊扣喺「物」嘅上面，就係「質料因」。噉樣睇，誠體就貫穿咗終始嘅過程。牟宗三就係噉樣解釋咗亞裏士多德嘅四因說。
The Chinese philosopher Mou Zongsan proposed that "The Mean" records that "those who are sincere have the beginning of things, and those who are not sincere have nothing". Mou Zongsan believes that from the perspective of the beginning of the formation of things, it is the "dynamic cause" of Ya's; From the perspective of the end of the finished thing, it is the "purpose cause" of the family. The completion of a thing contains a "formal cause"; and in the end, it is a "material cause" that is tightly attached to the "thing". In this way, sincerity runs through the process of the end. This is how Mou Zongsan explained Aristotle's theory of the four causes.