Later, Goethe explains the difference between the self and Syrah in terms of the relationship between “allegory” and “symbol” as follows. There is a great difference between a poet who seeks the particular for the universal, as in Syrah, and one who sees the universal in the particular, as in Goethe. From the former approach arises symbolism, in which the particular becomes a mere instance or example of the universal. The latter, on the other hand, is truly the essence of literature (Poesie), and it expresses a special without recalling or directing the universal. Now, he who vividly perceives this particular, without realizing it or only later, has at the same time acquired the universal.”(MR27) It is clear that the latter is what is called by Goethe “symbol” https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/morpho1979/1997/19/1997_19_89/_pdf/-char/ja
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The same is true of symbol in symbolic modeling, where one approach is to use an abstract concept to explain something and then use a concrete example as an illustration, and the other approach is to “gain universality” in posterior by moving away from the abstract concept and focusing on vividly depicting a concrete scenery in one’s mind’s eye. There is an approach that focuses on vividly depicting concrete scenery in one’s mind’s eye away from abstract concepts and experience it to “acquire universality” in the posterior.
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I know some of you may not be familiar with the phrase, “winning the universal.”
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If, when having a new experience Y, we realize “Oh, this is similar to my previous experience X,” and analogy produces knowledge that can be applied to experience Y, we know a posteriori that we “had universal knowledge that crosses experience X and experience Y.
- Whether this universal knowledge is verbalized or not is immaterial.
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I’ve drawn several times in Knowledge of Rootless Grass related pictures, but maybe it’s not a good idea to draw abstract concepts in the same circle as concrete experiences. Universal knowledge = abstract concepts are not always clearly verbalized at the time of application to new experiences.
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