ABSTRACT
Kierkegaard stands at the end of our narrative for more than chronological reasons. His contention that there is no self-determined path from one value orientation to another constitutes a direct challenge to the whole tradition of modern ethics. If Kierkegaard’s critique is right, then the path to ethics is not significantly different than the path to religion. In Chapter 7 we explore the moral-psychological implications of this conclusion, particularly how someone might reasonably relate to values that have, in virtue of their recognized contingency, become rationally destabilized. Motivated by a reinterpretation of several core ideas from Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling (1843), we recommend an attitude we call “ethical faith.”
