There is no more action or decision in our day than there is perilous delight in swimming in shallow waters.Kierkegaard argues the present age drains the meaning out of ethical concepts through passionless indolence.
The concepts are still used, but are drained of all meaning by virtue of their detachment from a life view which is passion-generated and produces consistent action.
Kierkegaard advised that "real" people retain a concrete identity in the face of an abstract public opinion.
He wrote: More and more people renounce the quiet and modest tasks of life, that are so important and pleasing to God, in order to achieve something greater; in order to think over the relationships of life in a higher relationship till in the end the whole generation has become a representation, who represent…it is difficult to say who; and who think about these relationships…for whose sake it is not easy to discover.
Several contemporary philosophers, including Anthony Rudd, John Davenport, and Alasdair MacIntyre[4] allocate this concept and apply it as an analysis of nihilism.