The unbroken criterion continues to function after every external measure that once embodied it has been broken. The residual man continues to judge and to form himself according to that criterion even though the age recognizes no higher standard. The criterion itself is permanent. Only the collective structures that once made it visible have been destroyed.
Young men who still seek a reliable measure often look for residual authorities or residual traditions that will supply judgment from outside. Most of those authorities have already compromised the criterion in order to remain acceptable to the age. The residual path does not wait for external confirmation. It continues to apply the unbroken criterion from the interior center that still perceives its authority.
This interior application is the residual form of the older traditional judgment that once ordered both individual and civilization. The man who keeps the criterion effective already carries the residual rank. That rank does not require collective acknowledgment to remain binding.
Apply the unbroken criterion. Do not wait for the age to restore measures capable of supporting higher judgment. The residual act is to keep the permanent standard present in every concrete decision. That presence is the continuity of the higher type under residual conditions.