Die Welt gilt als die Gesamtheit dessen, was der Fall ist; und was der Fall ist, kann in Form wahrer Aussagen festgestellt werden. Ausgehend von diesem allgemeinen Konzept von Welt lassen sich die Begriffe der ersten, zweiten und dritten Welt spezifizieren. Die Entitäten haben je nach ihrer Zugehörigkeit zu einer der drei Welten eine spezifische Seinsweise: es handelt sich um physische Gegenstände und Ereignisse; um mentale Zustände und innere Episoden; um die Bedeutungsgehalte symbolischer Gebilde. Die symbolischen Gebilde werden zwar durch den produktiven menschlichen Geist erzeugt; obschon selber Produkte, treten sie dem subjektiven Geist mit der Objektivität eines spröden, problematischen, undurchschauten, durch intellektuelle Arbeit erst aufzuschließenden Sinnzusammenhang entgegen. Die Produkte des menschlichen Geistes kehren sich unverzüglich als Probleme gegen ihn: Diese Probleme sind offensichtlich selbständig. Sie werden in keiner Weise von uns geschaffen; vielmehr entdecken wir sie, und in diesem Sinne existieren sie schon vor ihrer Entdeckung. Darüber hinaus sind mindestens einige dieser Probleme möglicherweise unlösbar. Um diese Probleme zu lösen, erfinden wir vielleicht neue Theorien. Wenn wir aber diese Theorien einmal geschaffen haben, dann erzeugen sie neue, unbeabsichtigte und unerwartete Probleme, die entdeckt werden müssen.

The world counts as the totality of what is the case; and what is the case can be stated in the form of true propositions. Starting from this general concept of the world, we can specify the concepts of the first, second and third worlds by the way in which states of affairs exist. The entities belonging to each of these three worlds have a specific mode of being: physical objects and events, mental states and episodes, and semantic contents of symbolic formations. Symbolic formations are, it is true, generated by the productive human mind; but though they are themselves products, they confront subjective mind with the objectivity of a problematic, uncomprehended complex of meaning that can be opened up only through intellectual labor. The products of the human mind immediately turn against it as problems. These problems are clearly autonomous. They are in no sense made by us; rather, they are discovered by us; and in this sense they exist, undiscovered, before their discovery. Moreover, at least some of these unsolved problems may be insoluble. In our attempts to solve these or other problems we may invent new theories. Yet the moment we have produced these theories, they create new, unintended and unexpected problems, autonomous problems, problems to be discovered.

The world counts as the totality of what is the case; and what is the case can be stated in the form of true propositions. Starting from this general concept of the world, we can specify the concepts of the first, second and third worlds by the way in which states of affairs exist. The entities belonging to each of these three worlds have a specific mode of being: physical objects and events, mental states and episodes, and semantic contents of symbolic formations. Symbolic formations are, it is true, generated by the productive human mind; but though they are themselves products, they confront subjective mind with the objectivity of a problematic, uncomprehended complex of meaning that can be opened up only through intellectual labor. The products of the human mind immediately turn against it as problems. These problems are clearly autonomous. They are in no sense made by us; rather, they are discovered by us; and in this sense they exist, undiscovered, before their discovery. Moreover, at least some of these unsolved problems may be insoluble. In our attempts to solve these or other problems we may invent new theories. Yet the moment we have produced these theories, they create new, unintended and unexpected problems, autonomous problems, problems to be discovered.