Tag Archives: Anglo-American Philosophy

Death Be Not Proud

Death Be Not Proud We think of our life stories as headed toward a concluding sentence, after which, if they were novels, we would see written: “The End.” Not that everyone conceives this “end” the same way.  Take Heidegger, the … Continue reading

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For the Love of Wisdom

For the Love of Wisdom When I first began my graduate studies in philosophy, I’d be told – in so many words as well as body language – that any residual hopes of finding wisdom in this field should be … Continue reading

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, books, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, institutional power, law, literature, love, masculinity, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, motherhood, ontology, past and future, peace, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Healing at a Distance?

Healing at a Distance? The other day I had a distance healing.  Of what? you might ask.  Was it a psychological problem?  That’s why we have therapists.  Was it a physical problem?  We have medically-approved treatments for those, backed by … Continue reading

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, chivalry, cities, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, female power, femininity, feminism, freedom, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, history, history of ideas, Idealism-, identity, institutional power, life and death struggle, love, masculinity, memory, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, scientism, secular, 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, victimhood, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to Be Modern

How to Be Modern I’ve never understood why people wanted to be modern in the first place.  Okay, the dentistry is an improvement.  I’ll give you that. On the other hand, Victorian people (as in the novels of Dickens) seemed … Continue reading

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, books, bureaucracy, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, 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, films, 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, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, motherhood, mysticism, nineteenth-century, novels, ontology, oppression, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, scientism, 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, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“It Is No Secret”

“It Is No Secret” Years ago, when I was first in Jerusalem, I put a note in the Western Wall. “Did you pray at the Wall?” my Israeli cousins asked me, with their native-born, knowing irony. “Of course,” I rejoined. … Continue reading

Posted in academe, action, anthropology, art, art of living, Biblical God, Christianity, contemplation, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, femininity, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, hidden God, history of ideas, ideality, identity, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, love, masculinity, memory, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, past and future, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, psychology, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, sex appeal, sexuality, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status of women, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“Where Are We Now?”

“Where Are We Now?” Since my last column, I’ve been preoccupied with the long-shot nomination of me, by a kind colleague, to give the John Dewey lecture at the American Philosophical Association. That’s the lecture underscoring the link between the … Continue reading

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art of living, autonomy, beauty, chivalry, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, heroes, hidden God, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, institutional power, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master, memoir, mind control, modernism, motherhood, nineteenth-century, past and future, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political, political movements, power, propaganda, psychology, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, roles, seduction, sex appeal, sexuality, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, violence, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Theism, Philosophy and Me”

“Theism, Philosophy and Me” All weekend, recovering from a cold and feeling more dead than alive, I’ve been giving myself a crash course in philosophical theism. Theism is the belief in a personal God, who cares about you and me, … Continue reading

Posted in academe, action, alienation, contemplation, contradictions, culture, desire, dialectic, ethics, evil, faith, fashion, guilt and innocence, history, history of ideas, identity, ideology, idolatry, institutional power, life and death struggle, ontology, philosophy, political, power, psychology, reductionism, relationships, roles, social conventions, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, twentieth century, violence, war, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments