Maimon formulated the principle of determinability as a principle by which synthetic propositions are governed. Synthesis is an act of cognition through which a unity of manifold is established. The manifold is the material of the synthesis, and the unity is its form. The cognition of matter and form as separate concepts is bound up with Maimon's conception of symbolic cognition. The comprehension of the role and function of symbolic cognition is indispensable for the understanding of the workings of the human mind. Through the employment of symbolic forms man is capable of obtaining the highest abstractions and evolving new truths from the already known and immediately given perceptions.