 The symbols of the midworld are the vehicles by which we define ourselves, define our world, and engage in the ongoing process by which those definitions are revised in light of our discoveries about the world and our new demands for local control

Definition is a historical process and the symbols of the midworld have historical careers.The need to generate, maintain, and revise meanings is one way of understanding history, and it is on such terms that we see the unity of epistemology, ontology, and metaphysics that provides a deep context in which we can grasp what Miller writes regarding definition, action, and symbol.Miller embraced history in all his works but it is in "The Philosophy of History" that he drew a close connection between historical thinking and philosophical thinking.