"Rieff's central point is that the abandonment of a sacred order leaves cultures without any foundation. The culture with no sacred order therefore has the task — for Rieff, the impossible task — if justifying itself by reference to itself. Morality will thus tend toward a matter of simple consequentialist pragmatism, with the notion of what are and are not desirable outcomes being shaped by the distinct cultural pathologies of the day."

Let The Little Children Come - Scott Aniol. The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self - Carl Trueman.