Maggie's Farm

Why would they try to do something like that? Because they believe deeply that there is no objective morality, but they sense that the world will not work at all well unless people possess something very like what used to be called "character." They're casting about for a firm place to stand and can't find it.

There's one kind of belief system that gains respect in their intellectual world, and then there's another that leads to behavior they can bear to be around. Their most esteemed colleagues profess belief systems that sound sophisticated, but do not result in behavior that would make them trustworthy where it really counts: when you loan them money, when you leave your purse out in their presence, when you tell them something in confidence.

But I'm just spouting views that were expressed a long time ago, and much more clearly, in C.S. Lewis's "Abolition of Man." For a fictional treatment, the same author's "That Hideous Strength" is a good fairy-tale read.

Terrific bit from the link:

'The first headmaster of Stowe school, JF Roxburgh, declared his goal to be turning out young men who would be "acceptable at a dance and invaluable in a shipwreck."'