This "hierarchy of being and a hierarchy of meaning" is the justification superstition retreats to when its plain claims are revealed to be simply false. There

This "hierarchy of being and a hierarchy of meaning" is the justification superstition retreats to when its plain claims are revealed to be simply false. There's also a false dichotomy here: you don't ether have to have respect for base superstition or subscribe to materialism. There's plenty of room for philosophies that reject both horns of this dilemma.