It is not easy to give a lucid, literal translation of this title. What this means is not immediately obvious, but readers are on the right track if they deduce from the words that the author is going to discuss the kind of equality that emerges in modern society in the absence of a compelling alternative. The second half of the title implies that modernity tends to lock people's minds in a closed-minded perspective, thereby stifling wonder and thoughtfulness. According to this radical equality, there is no substantial concept of human nature, no natural or supernatural ends. All opinions are equal.
People have in common the right to have nothing in common.
Unlimited individual autonomy is the natural consequence of this kind of equality. The will is substituted for nature. This way of looking at things means that a person is free to choose between courage and cowardice, and even to consider the choice of either quality to be of equal worth. But, according to this doctrine, one is not free to renounce one's opinion as the rule of life and seek the truth by looking to a hero or a saint as a model to imitate. Otherwise stated, there is no place for the disinterested search for truth either by reason and the heart, or by deference to a spiritual authority through faith.