Explain Aristotle's four causes by applying them to some objects in the room. Then explain how this would be like or unlike Plato's own account of the...

The table I am
sitting at can be described in the terms of Aristotle's four causes. It has a material cause of
wood, and, secondarily, of metal, glue and polyurethane finish, because these are the materials
that cause it to exist. The formal cause of the table is design, because it was intentionally
shaped in precisely the way that it is now: the designer gave the table its form. It's efficient
cause is industrial carpentry, because it was mass produced in a factory using the methods of
carpentry, and these practices brought the table into being. It's final cause is work, because
this particular table functions as a multi-purpose work desk, and its use for this purpose also
defines the existence of the table.

In terms of Platonic conceptions of form,
this table is merely a shadow of the ideal table. All the scratches and the chunk that's missing
from the left leg are imperfections that define the particular table but also separate it from
the true platonic form of a table.

To Aristotle, the table is defined by its
characteristics, origin, and use, whereas to Plato a table is defined externally, and the table
I'm using can merely be compared to that ideal.