Monthly Archives: September 2021

Mysteries

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Abigail

Mysteries What part of our lives is a real mystery? I’m not talking about our yet-to-be-solved life problems nor about messages made deliberately unclear or ambiguous in order to confuse people. Leo Bronstein, who was a professor at Brandeis and … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, bigotry, Cities, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, motherhood, Mysticism, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", assuming another's debts, authority, bad actor, bad acts drive out good, clearing up obscure situations, closure, completing a quest, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, dispelling illusions, Divine mystery, domineering men, Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor, dream messages, empathy, epiphanies, existential angst, feminine paranoia, feminine vocation, filial obligations, first love, flunking lifemanship, group dynamics, group therapy, heartbreak, ideal resolution, illustrative anecdotes, inexhaustible Source, insoluble romantic problem, last words of Caesar, Leo Bronstein, life adventures, life do's and don'ts, life quests, lifemanship, memory traces, miracle, mystery, mystification, overcoming ambivalence, overgeneralizing, psychologically double, self-help situations, shadowy situation, solving life problems, solving mysteries, spiritual irrelevance, technical support, the human scale, transgression breeds transgression, unresolved issues, unresolved romance | Leave a comment

Tales of My Mother

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Abigail

Tales of My Mother Only in Victorian novels do we find good women who are also universally beloved. Here, from the annals of literary memoir, is the view of my mother taken by the well-known writer, Diana Trilling. Diana was … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Art of Living, bad faith, beauty, books, Childhood, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Martyrdom, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, motherhood, nineteenth-century, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theology, Time, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", catching spies, charisma, college friendships, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, Diana Trililng's The Beginning of the Journey: The Marriage of Diana and Lionel Trilling, Diana Trilling, East Side superintendent, end of Cold War, enemy agent, Europeanism, fall of communism, FBI raid, female cattiness, female jealousy, good women, Holocaust rescue, intuitive women, Lionel Trilling, literary critic, literary memoir, Nazi supporter, no filter, personal presence, Polish pope, Pope John Paul II, short wave radio, snobbery, social fearlessness, Sovietologists, storied lives, taking center stage, traditional woman, U boats, understanding people, unflattering recollections, upstaging, Victorian novels, wife and mother, womanly wisdom | 7 Comments

Closure

Posted on September 14, 2021 by Abigail

Closure Whatever the world understands by “closure” – peace of mind after mental storms, acceptance after bitter loss, resetting of purposes after frustration, a body to bring home for burial after a shattering search – I mean something different and … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, Childhood, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Idolatry, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, Ontology, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, secular, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a daughter's duty, a different drummer, acceptance, archivists, bohemian conventions, bohemian life, boundaries of talent, closure, Columbia University’s class of 1925, concrete universal, counter culture, cultural diagnostic, deathbed communication, derivative life, discovering significance, emotional patricide, energy that speaks, escaping conventions, father/daughter relationship, filial debts, filial impiety, filial obligations, filial piety, first-hand life, genius, hearing summonses, Henry M. Rosenthal, hippies, honoring one's father, intellectual memoir, intelligibility of history, Lewis and Clark, life journey, lifelong quest, living in parental shadow, living with depth, love that moves the stars, metaphysical forces, Northwest Passage, original purposes, peace of mind, personal epiphanies, philosophy professor, psychoanalytic stratagems, quest attained, reset, spirit of an era, story-like lives, the light of eternity, willfully unconventional, world-changing events | 3 Comments

Days of Awe

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Abigail

Days of Awe On the anniversary of September 11, I often rerun the column that I posted here in September 2001, after my visit to the City, a week later. Like many people, I’d felt shattered by the attack on … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Art, Art of Living, beauty, Biblical God, Christianity, Cities, Contemplation, Contradictions, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Jews, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Love, Martyrdom, Masculinity, Medieval, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, relationships, Religion, Roles, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, terrorism, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 9/11, American crisis, art protection, Book of Job, Byzantine crucifix, city walking, cultural crisis, defining event, desire to live, divine immanence, Faith, fear, fearfulness, FEMA, first responders, gratitude, grief, Ground Zero, Henry M. Rosenthal's "Prayer and Its Power", heroes, Kali, loss, Lower Manhattan, mental concentration, mental focus, Metropolitan Museum, National Guard, New York City, New York cops, New York firemen, New York resilience, New Yorkers, power of prayer, prayer, psychological fragmentation, Rabbi, realism, self-integration, sermon, sincerity, sorrow, spirit, spiritual focus, street smarts, terrorism, Todd Stone, transcendence, urban attack, walking intelligently, war zone | 2 Comments

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Monthly Archives: September 2021

Days of Awe

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