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Arrgggh Junior, but I have mispoken: The reference for Aristotelian formal cause is not to be found in Laws II, for that text cannot be found. :^) I meant to say Physics, Book II. Coincidentally, I happen to have that book with me today, so can give the cite (Physics III, 3):

(2) the form or pattern of a thing, that is, the reason (and the kind of reason) which explains what it was to be that thing....

My astrophysicist friend has given a superb exposition of the four Aristotelian causes in a recent draft manuscript. I'll quote him here, just in case any Lurker might be interested in the bases of Aristotelian logic:

“the material cause is the basic stuff out of which the thing is made. The material cause of a house, for example, would include the wood, metal, glass, and other building materials used in its construction. All of these things belong in an explanation of the house because it could not exist unless they were present in its composition.

"The formal cause {Gk. eidos} is the pattern or essence in conformity with which these materials are assembled. Thus, the formal cause of our exemplary house would be the sort of thing that is represented on a blueprint of its design. This, too, is part of the explanation of the house, since its materials would be only a pile of rubble (or a different house) if they were not put together in this way.

"The efficient cause is the agent or force immediately responsible for bringing this matter and that form together in the production of the thing. Thus, the efficient cause of the house would include the carpenters, masons, plumbers, and other workers who used these materials to build the house in accordance with the blueprint for its construction. Clearly the house would not be what it is without their contribution.

"Lastly, the final cause {Gk. telos} is the end or purpose for which a thing exists, so the final cause of our house would be to provide shelter for human beings. This is part of the explanation of the house's existence because it would never have been built unless someone needed it as a place to live.” -- Attila Grandpierre, ms of the forthcoming Book of the Living Universe, 2004

From a physics point of view, it is often useful to consider the material cause to be a state and the efficient cause to be an event.

This works well in the sense that one might say of a collision (cueball with eightball for example) that the efficient cause was the cuestroke but the material cause was the position and momentum of the two balls (it doesn't matter if the cueball was stroked or bowled or thrown or shot from a tennis ball server, if it has the same momentum and position in each case.) "Causality" then links states with events, but not necessarily events with events.