Content and Form, Meaning and Structure
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Every word has two aspects: an inner and an outer one, a substantial and a formal one namely, content and form, substance and outer appearance.
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Two Aspects to a Word |
The content of a word concerns its underlying meaning, and we try to capture this sense in the meaning of the word. The endless discussions with words about words indicate that the direct meaning of words is hidden from most of the people.
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The Content of the Word |
At the origin of a word where the thought is articulated by our inner organ of speech on the level of our mind content and form are still unified; and in this form of integrated existence they are ruled, and held together in unity, solely by the coordination faculty of our intellect.
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Unity of Content and Form |
Molding the mental structure of the word, the thought, is predominantly done by the understanding faculty of our intellect, that aspect of our intellect which activates diversity.
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Unity and Diversity of the Word |
The content, that is the underlying meaning of the word, is its innermost knowledge in its “onefold,” simple, straightforward and unequivocal nature.
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Concentrating Truth in the Thought Structure |
Through the feeling faculty of our intellect this “truth” is concentrated and interwoven with the material of our mind into a unity.
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Our self-awareness governs the content and the form of the thought by means of its three great arms the coordinating faculty of our intellect, the feeling faculty of our intellect, and the understanding faculty of our intellect; and therefore it is our self-awareness which structures the entire thought from the level of our feeling and from the level of our understanding.
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The Three Great Ruling Arms of the Musical Creator |
By means of the coordination faculty of our intellect, our self-awareness can understand that form and meaning of the thought are but two aspects of the same entity a twofold expression of the one truth.
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Twofold Expression of the One Truth |
The meaning of a word is the truth contained in the word in all its simplicity. This truth can be perceived most unequivocally by the feeling.
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Grasping the Structure of the Word |
The structure of a word embodies the many facets of the truth described, and shows the relation of the one truth, predominantly expressed by the word, to innumerable other truths.
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In the universality of the manifold expression of a word the refined understanding recognizes the incorporation of the other truths.
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The Range of the Understanding |