as of a horse in familiar situations would present
themselves. One may see in imagination a horse being driven, ridden,
etc., and he would then answer, "Why, a horse is to ride," or "A horse
is to drive," or "A horse is a domestic animal," etc.

Again, "What is a cloud? What is the sun? What is a river? What is
justice? What is love?" One says, "A cloud is that from which rain
falls," or "A cloud is partially condensed vapor. The sun is a round
thing in the sky that shines by day. A river is water flowing along in a
low place through the land. Justice is giving to people what they
deserve. Love is that feeling one has for a person which makes him be
kind to that person." The answer that one gives depends on age and
experience.

But it is evident that when a person is asked what a thing is or what is
the meaning of a thing, he has at once ideas that have been most closely
associated with the idea in question. Now, since the most important
aspect of a thing is what we can do with it, what use it can be to us,
usually meaning centers about _use_. A chair is to sit in, bread is to
eat, water is to drink, clothes are to wear, a hat is a thing to be worn
on one's head, a shovel is to dig with, a car is to ride in, etc.

Use is not quite so evident in such cases as the following: "Who was
Caesar? Who was Homer? Who is Edison? What was the Inquisition? What were
the Crusades?" However, one has, in these cases, very closely associated
ideas, and these ideas do center about what we have done with these men
and events in our thinking. "Caesar was a warrior. Homer was a writer of
epics. Edison is an inventor," etc. These men and events have been
presented to us in various situations as standing for various things in
the history of the world. And when we think of them, we at once think of
what they did, the place they fill in the world. This constitutes their
meaning.

It is evident that an idea may have many meanings. And the meaning that
may come to us at any particular moment depends upon the situation. A
chair, for example, in one situation, may come to mind as a thing to sit
in; in another situation, as a thing to stand in the corner and look
pretty; in another, a thing to stand on so that one may reach the top
shelf in the pantry; in another, a thing to strike a burglar with; in
another, a thing to knock to pieces to be used to make a fire.

The meaning of a thing comes from our experience with it, and the thing
usually c