Category Archives: Martyrdom

The Worse, the Better?

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Abigail

The Worse, the Better? In the 1930’s a political strategy known as “worsism” was in fashion. Worsists believed that the worse, the better! This meant, the more desperate people became, the closer we got to the revolution that would bring … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, bigotry, books, bureaucracy, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Courage, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Martyrdom, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, secular, Seduction, self-deception, slave, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, Suffering, Terror, terrorism, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged above the battle, all hat and no cattle, American Indian fighting, anti-Israelism, anti-semitism, Arapahoe, Arendt’s Forgiveness, bad guys lose, biological racism, bringing the revolution, curing bigotry, curing delusions, delegitimizing Israel, digging in deeper, dominance and subordination, evening the moral score, evening the score, false memory, German philosopher, good guys and bad guys, good guys win, group dynamics, groupthink, Hannah Arendt, happy-ever-after, Heidegger’s apologists, Heidegger’s Black Notebooks, Heidegger’s defenders, high gear denial, identity politics, inciting agressors, incremental change, inherited guilt, intention as power, Jewish sensibility, Kasim Hafeez, Martin Heidegger, meliorism, metaphysical racism, mob rule, moral rank, moral scorekeeping, natural riding, Nazi commitments, new heaven and earth, old-time Westerns, Palestinian, past life memory, political philosopher, political strategy, politicizing the campus, politics of experience, pre-revolutionary conditions, pulling moral rank, reversing social syndrome, reversing syndromes, revolutionary hopes, riding into the sunset, run-up to the Holocaust, shadow boxing, Shoah, social climate, social comedy, social persona, social pose, social syndromes, the 1930’s, the Indians win, The Nazi Party, the oldest hatred, the unthinkable becomes thinkable, the worse the better, theological demonization, tough guys, tragic sense, virtue signaling, worsism | Leave a comment

Androgyny?

Posted on October 22, 2019 by Abigail

Androgyny? “The Lure of Androgyny” is the title of an article I just read. It reports that the trend to downplay biological differences between the sexes is now world-wide. This is different from giving women equal opportunity. More like: THERE’S … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, books, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Journalism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Medieval, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, motherhood, novels, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, 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, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged actors and actresses, androgyny, anti-male prejudice, athletes, biological female, biological male, blue jeans, censorship, crude men, cultural change, Dante's Beatrice, debased men, defending honor, defending women’s honor, Emmanuel Levinas, entertainment fields, equal opportunity, female vulnerability, feminine security, fire fighting, firefighter rescue, French philosophy, Freudian prohibitions, gender as social construct, Hamlet, hatred of men, high fashion designers, idealizing women, level playing field, Levinas’s “And God Created Woman”, life or death situation, magazine article, make love like a man, male bashing, male gallantry, male protectiveness, male trustworthiness, marital partnership, marital protection, Marriage, Mary Eberstadt’s “The Lure of Androgyny”, masculine protection, misandry, misogyny, Ophelia, overcoming inhibitions, parental role model, policewoman, political correctness, pop music, pressures on men, prizes for acting, protective fathers, redemptress, relations between the sexes. human to human v man to woman, respect for women, Richard Lovelace’s “To Lucasta on Going to the Wars”, sexual revolution, sexual tact, single mother, targeting weakness, the arts, the eternal feminine, The New York Review of Books, the victimized woman, theatre awards, toxic masculinity, trendy article, trust, truth in sports, unisex, unisex bathrooms, unisex designers, unisex outfits, unisex sports, winning the race, women athletes, women firefighters, women in the military, women's liberation, women’s self-defense, Woodstock, worldwide trends | Leave a comment

The Ephrussis of Paris and Vienna

Posted on October 1, 2019 by Abigail

The Ephrussis of Paris and Vienna The book I’ve just finished reading had an impact on me greater than any book I can remember. By impact, I don’t mean long-term influence on my heart or mind. I mean something like … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, books, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Freedom, Friendship, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Hegel, hegemony, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Martyrdom, Memoir, memory, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, nineteenth-century, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Political, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Race, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, secular, Seduction, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, terrorism, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", aestheticism, anti-Dreyfusards, arriviste, bibelot, blessing of Abraham, boomerang effect, Charles Swann, collector’s item, covenantal blessing, cultural outsiders, cultural resentment, cultural roots, Degas, Dreyfus Case, Edmund de Waal's The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance, emulating the natives, Ephrussi family, European-ness, evil of Nazism, fanaticism, faux-Parisians, faux-Viennese, filial piety, French survivor, Gestapo looting, haute bourgeoisie, high society, Holocaust literature, host culture, Impressionist patron, Impressionists, influential books, inheritance, Jewish banking families, Jewish success, Marcel Proust’s In Quest of Lost Time, memoirs of survivors, mob action, moral certainty, Nazi clergy, Nazi memoirs, Nazi trial transcripts, Nazis in Vienna, netsuke, nouveaux riches, Odessa, Odessa chief rabbi, Odessa in the 19th-century, Paris, Proustian narrator, Rav Tsair, Renoir, Rothschilds, Russian schoolgirl, secularized Europe, secularlism, sepia photograph, state propaganda, sumptuous dinners, tastemakers, tchotchke, the beautiful people, the best circles, theological rationalizations, Tsarist Russia, unintended consequences, University of Lausanne, Vienna, witnessing | 4 Comments

Acting the Part

Posted on July 2, 2019 by Abigail

Acting the Part When I was newly arrived in Paris as a young Fulbright Scholar, I was invited to have lunch at the home of the Israeli ambassador to France. He was my mother’s first cousin. Hence the invitation. We … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, books, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Gender Balance, glitterati, hegemony, hierarchy, history of ideas, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Memoir, memory, Modernism, Moral psychology, novels, Ontology, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, status, status of women, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Time, twentieth century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged ambassadorial residence, annals of contempt, bad faith, beaux quartiers, cheap meals, comme il faut, cousins, exchange of courtesies, feeling flustered, France, French waiter, Fulbright Scholar, Israeli ambassador, Jean-Paul Sartre's Being and Nothingness, kiss on both cheeks, Latin Quarter, Les Deux Magots, long red carpet, luncheon guest, mauvaise foi, Mme. Ambassador, Paris, philosophers’ cafe, pitiless gaze, role playing, Saint Germain des Pres, servants’ esteem, servants’ gaze, social zero, Stendahl’s The Red and The Black, student restaurant card, student restaurants, the gaze | 2 Comments

My Grandfather, Rav Tsair

Posted on June 13, 2019 by Abigail

*Erratum: The location of the Archives for Hebrew Union College/Jewish Institute of Religion is Cincinnati, not Cleveland.* My Grandfather, Rav Tsair I almost never think about him. He died when I was about ten, when other supports of a safe … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Academe, Action, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, books, Childhood, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Femininity, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, Medieval, Memoir, memory, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, nineteenth-century, non-violence, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics of ideas, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Renaissance, Roles, scientism, secular, self-deception, 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, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a biblical character, abstract universalism, Albert Einstein, ancestral protection, antisemitism, Archiving, assistant professor of Philosophy, believing Jews, Bible as history, biblical mindset, bitzaron, careers open to talents, Chaim Tchernowitz (pen name Rav Tsair "the Young Rabbi"), chief rabbi of Odessa, classical Hebrew, countering pogroms, ethics of the prophets, European Jews, evolution of oral law, exile as mission, family prestige, Felix Frankfurter, German doctorate in Judaica, grandfather, Hebraist literary renaissance, Hebrew Union College, higher criticism, Jewish ancient homeland, Jewish cultural leaders, Jewish destiny, Jewish Institute of Religion, Jewish jurisprudence, Jewish marriage, Jewish mission, Jewish political independence, Jewish public intellectuals, Jewish scholarship, Jewish system of meaning, Jewish wars, Jews as a people, Judaism as a religion, light unto the nations, marvelous stories, national renewal, Odessa, Oral Law, over-interllectualized, pogroms, pre-modern views of Jews, professor of Talmud, protected childhood, quietism, rabbinic quietism, rabbinical seminaries, Rav Tsair, realistic fear, secular Jews, secular Zionism, sophisticated young woman, Stephen Vincent Benet’s The King of The Cats, supreme court justice, Talmudics, The Covenant, The Covenant in history, the Holocaust, the scriptural canon, the Zionist project, thought and action fused, universalism and particularism, universalism of the prophets, women’s other-directedness, yichus, young girls | Leave a comment

The Thrill of Admiration

Posted on June 11, 2019 by Abigail

The Thrill of Admiration These days I’m reading Jacob Howland’s wonderful book about Plato’s Republic, the great dialogue that shows how hard it is to teach virtue in the political arena. At the same time, I’m mentally settling down … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, books, bureaucracy, Childhood, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, 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, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a long romance, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", admirers and detractors, Adolf Eichmann, Aristotle, “call no man happy”, buffetings of public opinion, Chaim Tchernowitz, death and glory, deserved honors, fall from grace, fame and fortune, Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, history’s big stage, history’s unfair verdict, history’s verdict, inflated reputation, Jacob Howland’s Glaucon’s Fate: History Myth and Character in Plato’s Republic, Jewish history, legacy, lost reputation, lucky in love, mental programming, mindless bureaucrats, named professorships, Nazi bureaucracy, opinion shapers, Plato, Plato's Republic, posterity's verdict, posthumous reputation, public disfavor, public esteem, Rav Tsair, reputation, reversals of fortune, risks to happiness, Solon of Athens, the Holocaust, the just and the unjust, the just man, the race well run, uplifting versus defaming a reputation, victims and perpetrators, W.H. Auden's In Memory of W B Yeats, writers and philosophers | Leave a comment

My Grandfather, Rav Tsair

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Abigail

My Grandfather, Rav Tsair I almost never think about him. He died when I was about ten, when other supports of a safe childhood were also falling away. The destiny of a young girl loomed just around the corner, with … Continue reading →

	Abigail on Time and Me
	Jerry Schmoyer on Time and Me
	The Worse, the Bette… on The Ex-Terrorist Comes to…
	Androgyny? \| "D… on Good Philosophy Gets You to th…
	Abigail on The Ephrussis of Paris and…

Category Archives: Martyrdom

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