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Introduction Some philosophical terms become so familiar that we no longer notice the images they contain. We encounter them as established concepts, equipped with recognisable theoretical functions, without considering how an image might have helped make those functions intelligible. Constellation offers a revealing example. The word can designate a way of understanding relations among elements, yet it retains the image of stars whose arrangement allows us to perceive a figure. When the term enters philosophical discourse, does the image become dispensable, or does something of its organising force remain? The question concerns how concepts acquire their apparent solidity. Once a term becomes part of an established vocabulary, the processes that made its meaning intelligible can recede from view. We continue to use the concept even as the conditions that shaped it become less apparent. Examining this relationship may reveal how concepts direct thought and how familiar ways of u...