Category Archives: politics

Economic Life

Posted on November 13, 2018 by Abigail

Economic Life I suppose that people’s political differences turn on their differing solutions to the problem of economic life. What problem would that be? Oh, let’s say the human species has its overall metabolism: its ways of handling the inflow … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, American Politics, Art, Art of Living, books, Cities, Class, Contradictions, Cool, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Existentialism, exploitation, Freedom, hierarchy, history of ideas, Identity, life and death struggle, nineteenth-century, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political, politics, politics of ideas, Power, Roles, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, status, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Absentee owners, Agribusiness, Bachelor’s life, Being oneself, budget balancing, Craftsmen and industrialization, economic theories, Ethnic neighborhoods, Family farms, Farmers and industrial life, High living, Illiteracy and hunger, Leo Bronstein, Living within one’s means, Lubbock Texas, Manhattan neighborhoods, Norman Stone’s Europe Transformed: 1878-1919, output and input, Over-regulation, Philosophic life style, philosophic talent, public education, Railroads and the economy, Rent control, Small farms, small town life, Small towns and modernization, Soren Kierkegaard, Third Avenue El, Turkey Texas, Upper East Side, Urban life, Volunteerism | 4 Comments

What About the Jews?

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Abigail

What About the Jews? Over yesterday and today has hung the heavy cloud of the shooting in the Pittsburgh synagogue. The feelings that settled over me immediately were desolation and isolation. Plus a welling up of the fright and sense … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, Bible, Biblical God, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Freedom, Guilt and Innocence, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Martyrdom, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, radicalism, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, secular, Seduction, self-deception, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged anomalies, anti-semitic beliefs, anti-semitic myths, anti-semitism, “Jews-on-the-brain” morbid syndrome, Bible as history, bigoted world view, bigots, blessing of Abraham, book of Genesis, cognitive psychology, deranged shooter, divinely shaped meanings, fright, Genesis 12:3, God's personal relationships, hopelessness, human relations with God, Jews, Jews’ set apart status, person-to-person relationships, Pittsburg synagogue, prejudice, psychological explanations, Thomas Mann's Joseph and His Brothers, threats to Jews, unfolding story, Ur-story | Leave a comment

Delusions of Intellection

Posted on September 11, 2018 by Abigail

Delusions of Intellection “People live and die by ideas!” “You are what you think – much more than what you eat!” With encouraging words like these, I would try to persuade students in an intro course to see the study … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Law, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, nineteenth-century, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reductionism, relationships, Renaissance, Roles, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, status, status of women, 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 Albanian student, Alexander Bloom’s Prodigal Sons: The New York Intellectuals and Their World, American assimilation, Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks, Arabian student, bad ideas, bad karma, Brooklyn College of CUNY, careerism, children of immigrants, class inequality, class war, communism, cultural assimilation, delusions, delusive thoughts, dialecticians, division of labor, educated delusions, fall of Soviet Union, first generation Americans, flawed ideas, Great Soviet Experiment, hope of the future, immigrants, Indian student, intellection, intellectual delusions, intellectual diversity, intellectuals, Jewish intellectuals, Jewish quotas, Karl Marx, Karl Marx’s The German Ideology, left wing writers, Marxism, Moscow demonstration, multiculturalism, New Masses magazine, opportunism, parental dreams, Partisan Review, peer approval, philosophy, philosophy professor, philosophy students, pied piper, risk of belief, Russian student, self-deception, Somalian student, specialization, teaching philosophy, Texan student, the 1930’s, The Black Book of Communism: Crimes Terror Repression, the Great Depression, the Other, The Soviet Union, thought world | Leave a comment

Persecution and the Art of Writing

Posted on August 28, 2018 by Abigail

Persecution and the Art of Writing That’s the catchy title of a book published in the 1950’s by a man named Leo Strauss – initially derided, later enormously influential. Outside philosophy and political theory, Strauss’s name is not generally … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, Art, Art of Living, books, Contradictions, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Feminism, history of ideas, Literature, Love, Philosophy, Political, politics, politics of ideas, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, relationships, Roles, Romantic Love, social construction, Social Conventions, status, status of women, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged candor, candor in courtship, conspiracy theory, coquetry, courtship, dialectic, diplomacy, emigre philosophers, emigres, esotericism, Eugenics, exoteric writing, gauging the audience, hidden doctrine, hidden views, history of ideas, integrity, intellectual integrity, intellectuals, Leo Strauss’s Persecution and the Art of Writing, oral teaching, Palestinian student, people pleasing, philosophic training, philosophy, Plato's Phaedrus, Plato's Republic, political realism, political science, political theory, public intellectuals, rhetoric, saying the right thing, secret doctrine, social blunders, social intelligence, speech and silence, state managed reproduction, straight shooting, tact, the ideal state, The Woman Question, Thought Crimes, trial and error, truth-seekers, women in philosophy, writing in code | Leave a comment

Nudnikerie: My Album of Antisemites

Posted on August 14, 2018 by Abigail

Nudnikerie: My Album of Antisemites Nudnik: “A nudnik is not just a nuisance; to merit the status of nudnik, a nuisance must be the most persistent, talkative, obnoxious, indomitable, and indefatigable nag.” The Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, Biblical God, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Love, Martyrdom, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, non-violence, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, radicalism, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, secular, Seduction, 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 Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", ad hominem attack, bigotry, Christian friends, collegiality violated, dangerous pessimism, dark corners, dark memory, double standard, European Femininity, European women, evasion, G.I. Bride, German complicity, good guys, groupthink, Hitler’s reading list, Hitler’s sport events, in the wrong job, insulting speech, Jerry L. Martin's "God: an Autobiography as Told to a Philosopher", Jewish neighbors, Jewish opinion, loaded questions, memory, naturalistic worldview, outdoor cafes, outdoor prayer, peaceniks, personal stories, picking a quarrel, prayer as last resort, religious experience, religious turn, requirements of priesthood, self-deception, self-righteousness, Shoah, talking to God, the Holocaust, the human soul, the Other, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, war-time trauma, womanly arts, wrong life path, wrong vocation | Leave a comment

Shunning

Posted on July 10, 2018 by Abigail

Shunning We are social beings, so nobody likes to be shunned. I first encountered shunning after I wrote a letter to Proceedings and Addresses. That’s the journal where schedules for philosophic meetings are posted, academic publishers place ads for their … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, eighteenth century, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Journalism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, radicalism, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, 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, Terror, 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, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged AAUW, abrasive manner, academic publisher, APA’s Memorial Minutes, APA’s Presidential Address, APA’s Proceedings and Addresses, borough president, cattiness, censoring dissent, Committee of Public Safety, congressman, Cotton Mather, CUNY Board of Trustees, derogatory remarks, dining alone, discrimination against women, enjoying solitude, errors of fact and logic, ethnic facial features, feminist controversy, feminist philosophers, feminist self-criticism, first Puerto Rican, ganging up, gay feminists, gender discrimination, getting denounced, groupthink, Harvard presidency, Herman Badillo, imaginary crimes, Larry Summers, losing political power, loss of power, Mayans and Incas, mean girls, moment of silence, Moral psychology, Parisian aristocrats, philosophic journal, Place de la Revolution, political enemies, political influence, political rivalry, pre-Columbian appearance, public higher ed, public space, Salem witch trials, sensitive remarks, shunning, Social beings, social climbing, social demotion, speaking one’s mind, Stephen Vincent Benét, the Guillotine, the right people, the tumbrils, thought police, unsung heroes, virtue signaling, woman philosopher, women and academics, women in hard science, women’s professors | Leave a comment

Kosher?

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Abigail

Kosher? O dear. This is what you call a “vexed” topic. A couple of years back, in my temple’s Saturday Torah Study, we came to verses that spell out what you are and aren’t supposed to eat, if you’re Jewish. … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bureaucracy, Childhood, Christianity, Cities, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Femininity, Freedom, Friendship, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mysticism, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, politics, politics of ideas, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, scientism, secular, self-deception, 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 apostles quarrelling, Atheism, Bible study, Book of Acts, filial piety, Galatians, keeping kosher, keeping the law, kosher, kosher kitchen, mitzvot, observant Jews, real and false gods, secular gods, secular Jews, secular readers, secularism, Torah Study | Leave a comment

	Abigail on A Rich and Novel Treatment of…
	Abigail on Economic Life
	Abigail on Economic Life
	Joel Weiner on A Rich and Novel Treatment of…
	Penny Heiple, Three… on Economic Life

Category Archives: politics

Never miss a post! "Dear Abbie" in your inbox is a click away.

Email Abbie!

We’re Social.

Recent Posts

Recent Comments and Replies

Archives

A picture is worth…

Follow Dear Abbie on Twitter!