Morality is defined by the absence of the object which it is for. If it were not absent, it would be a particular interest, and cease to be morality. Therefore, the condition of the Good is the absence of the object, be it God, a divine law, the nation, the common good, the collective utility function, that is the source and end of the act.
The corollary to the moral and meaningful is therefore the necessity of absent and hidden objects, and the two are constitutively bound to each other. The imagined nature of some of these objects is not a hinderance, but an important aid. The more real it becomes, the less it ceases to express moral necessity, and the more it then works through institutions and self-interest, namely the desire for social approbation.
For example, the growing size and strength of states is accompanied by a weakening of nationalism as an abstract good (in favour of globally-minded liberalism) and its growth as one promoted through state institutions and social norms. This explains the paradox of Democrats seeking a larger state and Republicans a smaller one.
