Proximate Causality and Material Causality

At first glance, Spinoza's concept of Proximate Cause might seem no more than a less informative combination of the Aristotelian Four Causes.  However, it diverges significantly from the latter in one respect.  According to Aristotle, the Material Cause of something is what it is made out of, e. g. the clay of a bowl.  But, then, the Material Cause is, unlike the other three, not part of the process of producing the thing.  In sharp contrast, in the one example of Proximate Causality that Spinoza provides, the drawing of a Circle, the Material Cause of a Circle, e. g. the producing of ink, is part of the process of producing the thing.  This kind of inclusion of Material Causality in the productive process is much more relevant to Modern production, than to Ancient production.  For, with the rapid technical developments of the Modern Era, what something is made out of has likely been radically transformed from some natural resource, in contrast with the mild alterations of Matter that constitute Ancient production.  But, as is this case with many of the Recreative implications of his doctrine, Spinoza leaves his concept of Proximate Causality underdeveloped.