Tag Archives: argument
“What Are We Really Arguing About Now?”
“What Are We Really Arguing About Now?” My recent columns were about “argument” in the philosopher’s sense of reasoning. Thinking they might find them of special interest, I’ve sent the columns to philosopher friends. And was pleased, but not surprised, … Continue reading
Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, books, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, 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 of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, Ontology, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, secular, Seduction, self-deception, 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, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged Albert Camus, arguing to win, argument, argument from authority, argument from design, argument from observation, bad arguments, Bloomsbury group, Cheryl Misak’s Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers, conscious assumptions, conscious reasons, de Beauvoir’s Paris, drama of argument, famous philosophers, folk theology, forcing the argument, Frank Ramsey, Freud, Freud’s Vienna, global citizens, global culture, globalization, Gnosticism, human imperfection, human incompleteness, imperfect people, inspiration, intuitions, life purposes, life-defining argument, life-shaping argument, manipulative argument, necessary imperfections, opinion shapers, philosopher friends, philosophic argument, philosophic life world, realm of argument, reason, reasoning, rejecting the world, resisting the human condition, rhetorical tricks, Socrates in Athens, Stephen Toulmin’s and Allan Janick’s Wittgenstein’s Vienna, tales of argument, teleological argument, Tennessee farmers, the human condition, the perfect is the enemy of the good, unconscious assumptions, unstated subtexts, utopian ideals, verbal victories, Wittgenstein, world citizens, world city, world culture, world of ideas
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Rocky Mountain Lowdown
Rocky Mountain Lowdown Jerry and I have about finished the first leg of a complicated journey, the part that took shape in the cities of Denver and Boulder in the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado. Jerry had some talks to … Continue reading
Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Bible, Biblical God, Christianity, Cities, Contemplation, Contradictions, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Faith, Fashion, Freedom, Guilt and Innocence, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Love, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, Power, presence, Propaganda, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, secular, self-deception, Social Conventions, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "the true Israel", academic conference, academic papers, ancient land, annihilation of the Jews, anti-Israel, anti-semitism, argument, Boulder, chosen people, chosenness, Christian doctrine, Colorado, covenant, covenant with Israel, death camps, death of God, Denver, divine encounter, divine visions, Evil, Faith, false prophets, God, God and humankind, God's chosen people, God's existence, History, Holocaust, Holocaust survivor, human freedom, human rights, intellectual defense, Israel, Jerusalem, Jewish angels, Jewish army, Jews, Jews as witness, Nazi murders, Nazi regime, philosophical argument, philosophy, public intellectuals, Richard Rubenstein, Rocky Mountains, shamans, Shoah, spirituality, Supercessionism, the absence of God, the human story, The Jewish nation, the presence of God, the prophets, theology, trial of Adolf Eichmann, tribal women, tribe, truth, Ur of the Chaldees., witness
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“The Politics of Ideas”
“The Politics of Ideas” They say you are what you eat, but it’s been my experience that you are what you believe. People live and die for the ideas they believe to be true. What is more, people dress, work … Continue reading
Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, Christianity, Cities, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Hegel, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, Medieval, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Mortality, Mysticism, non-violence, Ontology, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, Power, Propaganda, Psychology, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Seduction, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Theology, Time, twenty-first century, Utopia, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged 586 B.C., ancient history, anger, anomaly, anti-semitism, aporia, apostles, Apostles Peter and James, archaeology, arguing to find the truth, arguing to win, argument, belief systems, beliefs, Brooklyn College, Christendom, Christian Fathers, Christian Jewish rapportchement, Christians, circumcision, competition for converts, counter-example, country gospel, damnation, destruction of The Temple, dialectic, diversity, Early Christianity, elites, Ethics, evangelical Christians, evil inclination, Feminism, feminist politics, feminist slogans, First Temple, freedom, Gentiles, good inclination, History, ideas, ideology, Institutional Power, institutional practice, integrity, inter-religious dialogue, Jesus, Jewish antiquity, Jewish authorities, Jews, John G. Gager's "Who Made Early Christianity: The Jewish Lives of the Apostle Paul", Judaica, Judaism, liberation, life of ideas, Mind Control, missionary, models, morals, mores, multi-culturalism, New Yorkers, opinion shapers, original sin, paradigms, personal conduct, philosophy professor, Plato, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton University, principles, refutation, religious politics, resentment, salvation, search for truth, shared assumptions, sinners, social boundries, social conduct, social construct, social control, social penalties, social practice, Socrates, Socratic dialogues, sophisticates, steles, supersessionism, synagogue donors, synagogue membership, synagogues in the ancient world, The Book of Acts, The Covenant, The Crucifixion, the Law, The Passion of Christ, the rift between Christians and Jews, the Righteous Gentile, theology, thought police, thought world, tragic history, truth, world views, wrongheadedness, You are what you believe, You are what you eat
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“Living in History”
“Living in History” That’s a theme of mine, though it’s easier to give the theme a name than to say exactly what it means. I can hone in on it by at least by saying what it’s not. If you … Continue reading
Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, Chivalry, Christianity, Class, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, Memoir, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Mortality, Mysticism, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, Power, Propaganda, Psychology, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Seduction, slave, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged absurdism, accidents, action, Advaita Vedanta, against the odds, agnosticism, agnostics, anomalies, anti-religious, anxiety, apostasy, argument, atheists, being fired, being human, belief system, Brooklyn Bridge, censorship, certainty, Christianity, clarity, close-mindedness, closure, cognitive virtues, communism, conceptual defeater, corrigibility, corrigible hypotheses, cosmetic concerns, counter-example, cultural relativism, data, deconstructionism, despair, dialectic, disappointment, disillusionment, dissenters, Divine Presence, doubt, doubters, dread, empowerment, epistemological doubt, Eric Voegelin's "Autobiographical Reflections", evidence, evidence for God, facism, Faith, false consciousness, false gods, fears, fixed idea, Freudianism, genius, getting pregnant, getting sick, Gnosis, God, guidance, Hinduism, historicizing, historiography, History, honesty, hope, hopeless situations, hopelessness, humility, hypotheses, Idealistic Monism, Ideologues, inconstant faith, inner certainty, Intellectual fashion, intellectual reversal, intellectual rigidity, Islam, Jean-Paul Sartre, Judaism, knowledge, lifelines, misanthropy, misology, moral realism, Party Line, philosophy, Plato's Phaedo, police state, problem of history, Procrustean bed, reality, refuting instance, religionists, religious people, repression, Right and Wrong, rigidity, Sartre's "Hope Now", serene faith, shattered nerves, Shekinah, skepticism, Socrates, subjective relativism, sure-footedness, talent, the half-dark, the Other, the true God, theists, uncertainty, unconscious doubt, unpredictability, writer
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“Ain’t I a Person?”
“Ain’t I a Person?” What’s a person? Am I a person? All the time? Is God? What’s going on when people say yes or no to questions like that? Jerry and I were in D.C. this week to celebrate the … Continue reading
Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Autonomy, Chivalry, Cities, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, Heroes, History, history of ideas, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, Mind Control, motherhood, non-violence, Ontology, Peace, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, Power, Psychology, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Seduction, Sex Appeal, Social Conventions, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "the fix", academe, addiction, adulthood, alcoholism, anti-semitism, argument, autonomy, Brooklyn, Brooklyn College, collegiality, communication, corruption, D.C., dangers, defensiveness, dialogue, dignity, dumbstruck, empathy, fear, feminine identity, Feminism, fractional self, friendship, girlhood, God as Person, gothic, graft, grifters, happy child, healing, hidden self, higher ed, identity, inner core, innocence, interpretive frame, Jewish self-respect, Jewish students, life stages, loss, missing persons, opinions, orthodox Jews, person, personal God, personhood, philosophy, photo documentary, presence, reason, religious sincerity, righteous combats, self-respect, shock, teenage, toxic, trust, verbal hate, wholeness, womanhood, words, young-girl-in-flower
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Political Correctness and Sex Appeal
Political Correctness and Sex Appeal These would seem to be unrelated topics. But not in my world. First, about this Political Correctness mania. It is starting to act like a cumulonimbus cloud, soaked in its own heavy humidity, making us … Continue reading
Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Art, Autonomy, Chivalry, Cities, Class, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courtship, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Hegel, History, history of ideas, ID, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master, Modernism, nineteenth-century, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, Power, Psychology, Public Intellectual, Race, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Seduction, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time, twentieth century, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "A Tale of Two Cities", "Absolute Freedom and Terror", appeasement, argument, bullies, Charles Dickens, city kids, city life, dating game, dialogue, enemy of the people, erotic strategies, Estates General 1789, feminine strategy, French Revolution, G.W.F. Hegel, guillotine, guilt trips, identity, influence, Jean Jacques Rousseau, losers, Manhattan, manipulation, monologue, national action committee, National Assembly, PC, political correctness, political policy, politics of ideas, radicalism, radicals, religious identity, Rousseau's "The Social Contract", sex appeal, sexual losers, status, temple membership, the "general will", The Left, The Phenomenology of Mind, thought control, thought police, wallflowers, winning arguments
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Spiritual Warfare
Spiritual Warfare I have been reading a book called The Art of Spiritual Warfare by Grant Schnarr. It’s a pretty good book. For one thing, it tells us that evil has objective reality. Evil is not a social construct. For … Continue reading
Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Action, Alienation, Autonomy, Chivalry, Class, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Freedom, Guilt and Innocence, History, history of ideas, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master, non-violence, Peace, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, Power, Psychology, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Seduction, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time, twentieth century, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "The Art of Spiritual Warfare", "The Art of Spiritual Warfare: A Guide to Lasting Inner Peace Based on Sun Tzu's The Art of War", "The Art of War", argument, Biblical encounters, Biblical God, censorship, Christian Zionists, combat, communication, confession, conscience, dialogue, dilemma, divine encounter, encounter with God, epiphany, Evil, facts and values, fight, God of Israel, good neighbors, Grant Schnarr, incommunicative, inspiration, Israel, judgementalism, loving Israel, loving Jews, martial arts, mission, paradigm shift, placards, political demonstrations, propaganda, protest, right to exist, self-righteousness, silencing, social construct, social construction of reality, spiritual homeland, strategy, Sun Tzu, un-neighborly acts, war game, war propaganda, warfare, writing topics
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