THE NATURE OF SYMBOLS 75 



in the form of generalities. It seems possible to maintain 

 that the choice between these two types of symbol is deter- 

 mined primarily by one's ideational habits, and secondarily 

 by one's conception of the function of symbolism in the 

 development of science. Many investigators seem to think 

 habitually in terms of images and models, and do not feel 

 that any phenomenon is understood until it has been ac- 

 curately pictured. Others seem to grasp abstractions more 

 readily, and are apparently confused by the misleading 

 detail which is associated with concrete imagery. The ex- 

 treme types are represented by the artist and the mathe- 

 matician; the former has developed a sensitivity to qualita- 

 tive givens in perceptual configurations; the latter, to 

 quantitative constructions in abstract logical patterns. But 

 considerations of the ultimate task of science also enter in. 

 If one believes that the final goal of science is the adequate 

 representation of that portion of the realm of events which is 

 clearly, i.e., perceptually, given he will be inclined to favor 

 pictorial symbolism ; for if an event can be readily perceived 

 it can be readily imagined or modeled. But if he insists that 

 the task of science is not mere descriptive portrayal but 

 explanation, i.e., the revelation of less clearly given entities 

 in terms of which the perceivable realm is to be understood, 

 he will consider pictorial representation less useful; for if an 

 event cannot be readily perceived it cannot be readily 

 imagined or modeled. Hence one may say that the most 

 adequate representation of the perceptual realm is through 

 icons, and the most adequate representation of the non- 

 perceptual realm is through characterizing symbols. This 

 is not to deny the legitimacy either of characterizing the 

 perceptual or of mirroring the non-perceptual. It is merely 

 to recognize, for example, that a lecture about one's travels 

 does not have the same informative value as a portrayal 

 by means of a motion picture with sound effects. It is also 

 to recognize the dangers inherent in the concrete representa- 

 tion of events which cannot be readily perceived. Events 

 which are remote in space and time must be symbolized in 



