γ) Taking possession which is not actual on its own account, but merely represents my will, is a sign placed upon the thing, the meaning of which is meant to be that I have placed my will in it. This mode of taking possession is, in respect of its objective scope and its meaning, very indeterminate.
Forming, in part α) immediate taking possession, for me, my will as such objective – β) in part for others – i.e., it enters into this objectivity for others – forming – in general without my personal presence, i.e. for others (also for me – tamed animals remain more securely in my keeping) –
Possession has the physical side and that of representation for others.
§ 58. Sign. – Both modes of taking possession [α and β] really only represent it – can [do so] not at all, or only slightly, immediately – they are in every way incomplete – the first [takes] im[mediately] always only a part of the thing really into possession – the other not immediately in connection [with the whole] – likewise forming. – Not necessary – to do more, for me – or against the thing – but determinate being is being for another – here the other of my personality – as mine – other personalities – and recognizability a chief matter – For these others only a sign is needed – for a sign is a determinate being – not of my actual possession, but of what I have represented, willed; – and what is represented, willed, is a universal. But a sign, a cross on a coast, sign that the whole land is mine, [is] ambiguous, indeterminate. –
On the one hand, then, because the sign represents representation, [it is] more far-reaching – worthier, directed at representation – on the other hand, of course, more indeterminate –*)
Immediate taking possession occurs rarely, α) for a factual, external reason, because everything is [already] in possession, is property, so that others are already owners. β) [property] is meant to be [constituted] with the will of others, with and in the universal will. γ) more complete than it can be here, namely a) the whole thing, as in α), and b) lasting.
Cockade – putting a sign in a ribbon –
Form reduced to a sign, for form [here] is only partial taking possession.
Sign (use too belongs to this) is representation in general – and [is] for representation. Sense different from immediacy – taking possession of the whole can only be through representation, and my will is to be representing, to comport itself as representing – together with the determination that the thing remain objective. Consuming is complete taking possession.
α) form on the thing β) the value of complete taking possession.
My possession is something represented in the sign – I make it into something merely represented in use.
External things which are to remain in existence as such can be taken into possession, with respect to the whole of what they are, only through representation.
Sign – twofold: α) something that has my form (the thing, that it is fastened here, etc.), is a wholly external singularity; β) the universal, the whole thing, which is my property through that partial possession. It is acknowledged in the sign that the immediate taking possession is something partial, but that the thing is nonetheless wholly mine – my will whole in the property.
This singular [element] as such, distinguished from the universal of the thing, exists thus; the singular as vanishing accident. Real marking.
*[above it:] Representing – absolute, other than out of [the] inner — eternal source.
Taking possession by marking is the most perfect of all, for the other kinds too have, more or less, the effect of the sign in themselves. When I seize or form a thing, its ultimate significance is likewise a sign, namely for others, in order to exclude them and to show that I have placed my will into the thing. For the concept of the sign is precisely that the thing does not count as what it is, but as what it is meant to signify. The cockade, for example, signifies being a citizen of a state, although the color has no connection with the nation and does not represent itself, but the nation. In the fact that man can give a sign and through it acquire something, he shows precisely his mastery over things.
§ 58: Setting a sign
The third way to take possession of something is the sign. I do not have to hold on to the thing or work on it. I only mark it. The sign tells others: My will is in here.
An example from a vacation: In the morning someone puts his towel on a lounge chair by the pool. He himself goes to breakfast. The towel should say: This chair is not free.
Why is this so important?
In fact, all ways of taking possession work like a sign. Whoever seizes or forms something also shows others: This is mine. Keep away. With the sign, this shows itself in pure form. A sign does not count as what it is. It counts as what it means. The towel is only cloth. But it stands for a claim. That human beings can set signs shows their power over things.
The weakness of the sign:
Signs are vague. In the past, seafarers set up a cross on a foreign coast. Did it mean only the beach? Or the whole land behind it? The cross does not say. How far a sign reaches and what exactly it means often stays open.
Summary: With a sign I show that my will is in a thing. This is the most universal way of taking possession. At the same time it is the least exact.
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