There are deeper types of symbolism, in a sense
artificial, and yet such that we could not get on
without them. Language, written or spoken, is
such a symbolism. The mere sound of a word,
or its shape on paper, is indifferent. The word
is a symbol, and its meaning is constituted by the
ideas, images, and emotions, which it raises in
the mind of the hearer.

There is also another sort of language, purely
a written language, which is constituted by the
mathematical symbols of the science of algebra.
In some ways, these symbols are different to those
of ordinary language, because the manipulation
of the algebraical symbols does your reasoning
for you, provided that you keep to the algebraic
rules. This is not the case with ordinary lan-
guage. You can never forget the meaning of
language, and trust to mere syntax to help you
out. In any case, language and algebra seem to
exemplify more fundamental types of symbolism
than do the Cathedrals of Medieval Europe.

There is still another symbolism more funda-
mental than any of the foregoing types. We look
up and see a coloured shape in front of us, and

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