ABSTRACT
My reflections on representation have been in process for almost twenty years, ever since I first started thinking about symbolism, images, and meaning as research topics. In one of my earliest efforts (Hirschman 1980), I speculated that all tangible objects are capable of carrying at least four layers of meaning:
1 Direct sensory or iconic impressions, such as color, shape, texture, size, weight, sound, taste and so forth, which I felt would be invariable across all humans.
