In an interesting review, Stanley Fish described the modern state as holding itself "aloof" from any and all worldviews, and therefore having "no basis for judging [their] outcomes. . ." It therefore "cannot inspire its citizens to virtuous (as opposed to self-interested) acts because it has lost 'its grip on the images, preserved by religion, of the moral whole'. . .".
This reminds me of Kierkegaard's criticism of modern rationality as endlessly commenting, and never committing. He argues for a type of understanding that promotes, not obstructs, action. In Training For Christianity, he writes (at p. 158): "in relation to action the right understanding is like the spring-board from which the jumper makes his leap. The clearer, the more exact, the more passionate (in a good sense) one's understanding of a matter is, by just so much does it lighten one's weight for action, or just so much easier is it for one who has to act to render himself light for action."
It's a good image: Jumping on a springboard lifts you into the air, lessens your weight, and makes it easier to adopt the form of the dive (the leap). The springboard is right understanding. Working towards right understanding is the key to right action. But the conscious decision of the modern state NOT to make a decision about world views, which most of us mimic, prevents us from reaching the right understanding needed for taking the action we must in order to be "saved." It's like the frog that perishes because the water it's in increases in temperature only degree by degree. Kierkegaard's response is to try to inflame fear at our inaction and the perdition we flirt with.
Stanley Rosen doesn't think Reason "gets it," i.e., knows what it's missing. According to Kierkegaard, only as individuals can we take action in the face of a culture that endlessly "discusses."
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