many objects, concepts are this thing of greater permanence, people if they are aware of it or not, are deeply attached to them. Relationships, democracy, economic security are all concepts. People seek them out, they prize them, they think they understand them. Some people even worship them. To worship something here means that figuratively, people give themselves to some ritual or practice whereby some special recognition is accorded to something — a being or an object. Because of their devotion to significant themes i.e. concepts, some people need to go to the altar to obtain them. People worship science, they worship a beautiful woman, or they worship some object. But these are all special activities. This special activity is said to take place at an altar, where an exceptional aura exists, and the goddess of concepts presides. Hence the title of the book — At the Altar of Concepts.

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