Tag Archives: Abigail L. Rosenthal’s “Confessions of a Young Philosopher”

No Place Like Home

Posted on August 30, 2022 by Abigail

No Place Like Home My name Abigail means in Hebrew “father’s joy.” Which tells us that, at birth, I’d already received my assignment. Since my father was considered, by a number of his classmates in Columbia University’s stellar class of … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, books, Childhood, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, Ontology, Past and Future, Philosophy, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, secular, 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, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "father's joy", Abigail, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", Augustine’s Confessions, birthright, chip off the old block, class genius, Clifton Fadiman, Columbia University’s class of 1925, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, daughter's chivalry to father, deracinated, earning one's name, father fixation, filial piety, fitting in with the crowd, following one's calling, freedom from parental pressure, Freudian views, girls in fathers' shadow, Henry M. Rosenthal, Henry M. Rosenthal’s Consolations of Philosophy: Hobbes’s Secret; Spinoza’s Way, honoring one's desires, illustrated books, intellectual girls, Jacques Barzun, Jerry L. Martin, Jewish virgins, life assignment, Lionel Trilling, loving philosophy, mainstream Jewish life, maternal expectations, Meyer Schapiro, name meanings, outward religious observance, owning one's name, philosophic conversation, philosophy and the feminine, quitting the rabbinate, religious detachment, romantic fulfillment, romantic happy ending, romantic self-respect, The American Jewish Historical Society, the rabbinate, Whittaker Chambers, women philosophers | 1 Comment

Disaggregation

Posted on July 5, 2022 by Abigail

Disaggregation Disaggregation! What a title! Masses of people will be pushing in to hear what I have to say about that one! It’s the polysyllabic term for what I need to do: separate out and deal with the present pileup … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, Biblical God, books, 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, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romantic Love, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, 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, Utopia, victimhood, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", answering questions, author interviews, avoiding platitudes, baring one's soul, being overwhelmed, Biblical covenant, chronological order, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, counting on friends, crowd-pleasing, cultural way stations, disaggregation, essentially Jewish, existentialist, fashions in self-knowledge, first discovered last explained, first things first, forthcoming book, Freudian, friend as fellow trapeze artist, friend of my time, friend of this place, frontier of life, genre of confession, gnostic, God and Israel, having a lot to say, helping women today, hour of retreat, I can't do this, intellectual fashions, knowing what you're talking about, landing safely, large canvas, life challenges, life crises, losing privacy, Marxist, memory pathway, nihilist, no rest for the weary, normal life, philosophic rationalism, physicalist-reductionist, polysyllabic words, proofreading, saying something new, sharing life's perils, sheltered thought, spiritual pilgrimage, truthful atmosphere, woman as pilgrim, woman interviewer | 1 Comment

Dragon Hunting

Posted on June 21, 2022 by Abigail

Dragon Hunting Dragon hunting has never, to my knowledge, been deemed the sport of kings since the requisite skills are not confined to any class of people, royal or other. Rather, the know-how is reserved for gifted souls. They know … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Journalism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, terrorism, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", antinomian, argument's power, argument's weakness, Épater les bourgeois, being turned to stone, brainwashing, brainwashing in Korean War, breaking a spell, capturing minds, coerced confessions, combatting dragons, concealed intentions, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, controlling others, cunning manipulator, deliberate incivility, dragons, Electoral College results, gifted souls, Greek mythology, having what it takes, Jacob Taubes, January 6th Hearings, January 6th historic precedence, January 6th Insurrection, January 6th legal evidence, January 6th mob, justice as the interest of the stronger, Me Too Movement, mental coercion, methods of manipulation, occult knowledge, ousting a predator, Pence's citizenship, Plato's Republic, pointless erudition, pointless wit, power relations, rule-breaking, Secret Service Agents, seeing the wolf first, sexual predator, slaying dragons, society's rules, Socrates, spellbinder, sport of kings, subverting minds, swallowed by a dragon, theological pied piper, Thrasymachus, Trump and Pence, Trump and The Insurrection, Trump and The Secret Service, uncanny power, under a spell, unfair means, unholy attraction, uninvited intrusion, Vice President Pence | 1 Comment

Colliding with the Book I Wrote

Posted on June 14, 2022 by Abigail

Colliding with the Book I Wrote Yesterday I started proofreading Confessions of a Young Philosopher, getting through the first of its three Parts, which bears the title, “Beginningwise.“ From this first go at it, I felt clobbered – just knocked … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, motherhood, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, 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, victimhood, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "Beginningwise", Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", American innocence, Americans in Paris, authors, being Jewish defined, beshert, beyond innocence, City of Lights, classic confessions, classic victim, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, Coup de foudre, crafting a seduction, female defenses, finding one's path, Fulbright scholars in Paris, girls and their ruin, ideal beings, Jewish boundaries, Jewish obligations, Jewish tradition, loss of innocence, lovers don't last, Parisian eros, partnering with God, passagère, people of the Covenant, politics of religion, pre-feminist America, pre-feminist world, proofreading, reading your own memoir, religious authority, romantic attraction, self-discovery, self-motivation, shotgun marriage, situated in history, soulmate, stooping to folly, telling one's story, the confession genre, the feminist movement, time’s wingéd chariot, understanding Paris, woman with a past, women's precariousness, youthful despair, youthful precariousness | Leave a comment

The Right to Think

Posted on May 31, 2022 by Abigail

The Right to Think In the dusty arena of public life, we see a contest between the Right to Life and the Right to Choose. There is, however, a third right that gets little or no play in that … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, Biblical God, bigotry, 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, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, 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, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, motherhood, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romantic Love, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, 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, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", abortion and hypocrisy, abortion and self-defense, academic politics, anatomy is destiny, Applied Ethics, asymmetry of the sexes, childbearing age, choice of evils, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, facing controversy, forced option, freedom to think, Hannah Arendt, live option, marital protection, marital safety, men dominating women, moral tests, obligatory freedom, professional politics, public arena, public space, right to choose, right to life, right to think, Roe v Wade, sex biological and cultural, Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, social politics, social safety, status of the unborn, stigmatizing women, Supreme Court abortion case, Talmudic view of abortion, test of character, truth-seeking, unavoidable sins, unhappily pregnant, up against the wall, utopian delusions, vetoed opinions, women's defenses, women's tragic choices, women's vulnerability | Leave a comment

Believers

Posted on April 26, 2022 by Abigail

Believers When I was a child, the grownups around me held all kinds of beliefs and I wished I could be like them. Failing that, I hoped they wouldn’t find out how I really felt. As a high school girl, … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, bad faith, Biblical God, bigotry, books, 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, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Martyrdom, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, 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, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", American girls, American hostage in Teheran, anti-Jewish persecution, Barry Rosen, becoming a Jew, belief and identity, believers, Brooklyn College philosophy, child's insincerity, City University of New York, coherent narrative, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, core identity, courtship modalities, damned if you do damned if you don't, dialectical life, different strokes different folks, discovering Jewish identity, discovering one is Jewish, explaining everything, explaining one’s life, finding a narrative thread, French courtship, French women, Freudian psychoanalysis, girlfriends and boyfriends, God and chronology, God in history, God's presence, grownups' beliefs, handling insults, harassing Jewish students, hazing in Australia, Hegelian narrative, holding nothing back, Jewish explanations, Jewish identity, joke that's not a joke, keeping your cool, keeping your honor, losing social power, maintaining a sense of belonging, misspent youth, Park Avenue psychoanalysis, partnering with God, persecution and identity, personal motivation, personal uniqueness, philosophic memoir, post-modern deconstructions, pretend adoration, reductive explanation, Smith College girls, social clumsiness, social cuts, social double bind, social power, standing up to persecution, unified self, Yaffa Eliach's Hassidic Tales of the Holocaust | Leave a comment

Stand on the Rock

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Abigail

Stand on the Rock If I could, I surely would Stand on the rock where Moses stood … I don’t know which rock the singer had in mind. The great rocky crags of Sinai? Some low-lying monadnock near the Burning … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, book reviews, books, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, 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, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Institutional Power, life and death struggle, Literature, Male Power, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Psychology, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romantic Love, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, 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, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", Augustine’s Confessions, belief systems, book illustrations, confession as genre, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, desire for truth, desire to know, fashionable motivations, firm footing, getting published, group identity, group identity and truth, group think, identity and belief, identity problems, life adventure, life motivations, metaphysical curiosity, Moses, Mount Sinai, narrative, opinion shaping, philosophical curiosity, philosophical pilgrimage, power as motive, publishers' rejections, search for wisdom, sex as motive, spiritual pilgrimage, spiritual safety, stand on the rock, stand out in the crowd, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Book Review, thought-worlds, true story, woman's confession, woman's narrative | 2 Comments

Pixels Thin and Thick

Posted on October 12, 2021 by Abigail

Pixels Thin and Thick On the day I got married, Jerry said to me after the ceremony, “Look in the mirror!” Puzzled, I pulled down the car mirror, looked, and said aloud, My God! I looked different. Like a photo … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, books, Childhood, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, novels, Ontology, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, scientism, secular, Seduction, 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, Utopia, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", American Philosophical Association, animal ethology, animal flirting, animal friendships, being where I should be, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, dense presence, depressed animals, Eric Voegelin Society, familiar landmarks, father-daughter relation, feeling abandoned, feeling precarious, filial duty, filial obligation, first love, frontier of experience, haunting memory, interspecies friendship, life challenge, life problematic, life purpose resolved, life question, life themes, lifelong purposes, loneliness, orangutans, otters, painful memories, Parisian first love, personal history, pitching podcasts, Romantic memory, romantic terminus, story's end, thinning presence, unfamiliar situation, unmapped terrain, unprecedented experience, untrodden territory, VoegelinView, writing what you believe, zoo habitats | 2 Comments

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

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