Tag Archives: Brooklyn College
Acquiring Jewish Existence
“You have the Jewish essence,” I was once told by a friend. “But you don’t have Jewish existence.” The verdict had been pronounced by my late friend Milton Schubin, who was then a partner in a powerful New … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, agnosticism, alienation, American politics, anthropology, anti-semitism, appreciation, art, art of living, atheism, authenticity, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, books, bureaucracy, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, ethnicity, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, fatherhood, female power, femininity, feminism, filial piety, 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, Jesus, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, 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, motherhood, mysticism, Nihilism, nineteenth-century, non-violence, novels, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, power games, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, racism, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, remembrance, repairing the culture, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, science, 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, terror, terrorism, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, Truth, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged academic fight, academic job fight, antisemitism as an illness that breaks out, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn College of CUNY, chasing ghosts, common sense and the occult, family in high places, finding water with a dowser, flight from the Jewish assignment, global fight against global antisemitism, God as old man with white beard, grandfather looking like God, Henry M. Rosenthal's philosophy students, Israeli family, Jewish calendar holidays, Jewish calendar year, Jewish existence, Jewish existence as frightening, Jewish in life habits, Jewish in the head, Jewish life method, Jewish ritual observance, Jewish ritual practices, Jewish time in history, Jewish time in recorded history, Jewish wariness re the occult, Judaism as a field of practices, Judaism as a way of life, keeping a kosher diet, leaving the rabbinate, legal advice, legal fight, living the Jewish assignment, looking up to your grandfather, Milton Schubin, mixed signals, Nazi use of sealed trucks, New York law firm, occult experience as destabilizing, Oct 8, Oct 8 global antisemitism, out of body experience, out-of-body view of global antisemitism, out-of-body vision, past life memory, past lives, philosophy students, pre-Holocaust killings, pro bono legal advice, rabbinic descent, Rav Tsair, remembering a past life, resisting fear, seeing hate from above, spiritualism, teacher-student friendship, the Jewish essence, the occult and its dangers, the occult and moral danger, the occult and psychological danger, the occult and spiritual danger, the run-up to the Holocaust, understanding Judaism conceptually, understanding Judaism existentially, understanding Judaism experientially, wariness and skepticism, wariness re the occult
2 Comments
The Silver Plus One
During the days following our return from California, we had to postpone the celebration of our 26th wedding anniversary so the “silver” anniversary plus one – in order first to face the leaning tower of chores and summonses that awaited … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, agnosticism, alienation, anthropology, appreciation, art, art of living, atheism, authenticity, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, books, bureaucracy, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, ethnicity, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, female power, femininity, feminism, filial piety, 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, Jesus, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, medieval, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, motherhood, mysticism, Nihilism, nineteenth-century, non-violence, novels, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, power games, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, remembrance, repairing the culture, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, science, 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, Truth, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged AAR, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", Abigail L. Rosenthal’s philosophical articles, academic combat, academic politics, action vs theory, against all odds, American Academy of Religion, analytic philosopher, anniversary celebration, betting on love, book with illustrations, Borough of Brooklyn, Brooklyn College, calculating advantages, City University of New York, college administration, college administration and curriculum, core curriculum, courtship and analytic philosophy, dating and analytic philosophy, defending academic standards, defending civilization, defending education, defending higher education, falling in love, fatal risks, fighting the good fight, finding the right marriage partner, finding the right partner, foolhardy, foolish risks, God makes marriages, God: An Autobiography As Told to a Philosopher by Jerry L. Martin, history department, holy ground, impolitic risks, intelligent risk, Jerry L. Martin’s Radically Personal: God and Ourselves in the New Axial Age, joining two lives, knowing when to act, knowing when to theorize, last stand, letting go of the result, life review, lifelong projects, looking for Miss Right, looking for Mr. Right, looking for the right partner, love and marriage, marital commitment, marital illusions, marital politics, marriage for compatibility, matters of the heart, meeting friends in cafes, miscalculations, narrowmindedness, not looking for Miss Right, not looking for Mr. Right, novelistic encounters, Pascal's wager, personal history, personal virtues, philosophic evaluation of religious claims, philosophical articles, philosophy and religious claims, Philosophy Department, philosophy of religion, political theory vs action, politics of experience, putting personal life on hold, real life means taking risks, received wisdom, reflection on past choices, religious claims and counterclaims, religious experience, risks of love, romantic illusions, Romantic Love, romantic love as absolute, romantic mistakes, romantic wager, Signature Project, silver wedding anniversary, strategizing, striking while the iron is hot, Theology Without Walls, theoretical vs practical level, true love, true love and marriage, TWW, unexpected religious experience, unprecedented religious experience, unusual religious experience, wedding anniversary, working class restaurant
Leave a comment
Our Twenty-Fourth Anniversary
As of last Friday, Jerry and I have been married for twenty-four years. By the time we met, neither of us expected to meet our true love – Mr. and Ms. Right – much less meet the way we did. … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, books, bureaucracy, 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, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, Idealism-, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, Judaism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master/slave relation, memoir, memory, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, 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, 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 Abigail L. Rosenthal's A Good Look at Evil, academic excellence, acting on principle, analytic and continental philosophy, Brooklyn College, chance and providence, college administration, collegial conversation, commuting marriage, defending principles, defending who one is, destruction of the second temple, fact and fiction, faculty vote, failed marriage, fighting the good fight, Finding Mr. Right, giving up personal life, God makes divorces, God makes marriages, Graduate Center of CUNY, happy endings, improbable romance, inharmonious marriage, institutional intimidation, intimidated faculty, Israeli cousins, Jerry L. Martin, Jerusalem 70 CE, liberal arts curriculum, love and self protection, love when you least expect it, marital relations, marriage broker, married love, Mr. Right, Ms. Right, no atheists in foxholes, note in the Western Wall, personal defenses, personal life balance, petitionary prayer, philosophical colleagues, philosophical research, philosophy at Sydney University, prayer at the wall, principled life at personal cost, providence, providence and coincidence, religious skeptics, romance and self protection, romantic disappointment, romantic disillusion, romantic interest, romantic other, saving liberal arts, saving the core, secret ballots, selfless act, sense of self, serendipity and providence, shared values, strategic prayer, The Western Wall, true love, vulnerability, wedding anniversary
Leave a comment
Acting in Real Time
Of all the forms of worship I know about, Biblical religion is the one most wedded to chronology. It carries the message that the action called for cannot be postponed. It must be done now. There is a concomitant duty … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, American politics, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, books, bureaucracy, childhood, cities, 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, health, Hegel, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, Idealism-, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, 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, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, ontology, oppression, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romanticism, 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, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged 1776 vote on Independence, academic excellence, acting in real time, Biblical religion, Brooklyn College, Caesar A. Rodney, chronological religion, Churchill's speeches, college administration, college policy, deadlines, dealing with tyrants, Declaration of Independence, documentary evidence, eloquence in a leader, fate of nations, forgetting and remembering, God in the Sistine Chapel, grandfather looks like God, historical crisis, imprinting memory, improving curriculum, Iron Law of the Bully, Jeremy Kagan's The Nature And Pursuit of Truth in Different Cultural Contexts in Strauss Spinoza & Sinai: ed Bloom Goldstein & Student, keeping commitments, keeping national trust, Lincoln's speeches, living in the now, manipulative speeches, meaning what you say, Michaelangelo's God, mistrusting heroes, moral timeliness, now of action, oddities of memory, Rav Tsair, refusal to personalize, religion on the timeline, representing one's nation, Second Continental Congress, sense of history, spoken with intention, Talmudic view of language, the right words, this ironical age, urgent action, what has to be said, words and reality, words and things, Zelensky's address to Congress
1 Comment
Wedding Anniversary
Wedding Anniversary Thursday, January 20th, was the 23rd anniversary of the day Jerry and I got married. In rabbinic tradition, God makes marriages. In fact, that would be the chief thing He does. I certainly wasn’t looking for a … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, Bible, Biblical God, books, childhood, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, existentialism, faith, fashion, female power, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, novels, ontology, past and future, philosophy, poetry, political, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, secular, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, status of women, 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 acting on one's beliefs, alice in wonderland, beshert, beshert marriages, bracketing personal life, bracketing the natural attitude, Brooklyn College, contemplative technique, curriculum reform, curriculum revision, defining intuition, discerning one's priorities, Divine mission, Edmund Husserl, falling in love, falling up, finding the right partner, God as marriage broker, joining lives, liberal arts curriculum, long-distance relationship, looking for a husband, love's seriousness, marital relation, marriage as personal political and erotic, marriage broker, meaning what one says, meaningful life, observing one's life, personal life, phenomenological reduction, philosophic intuition, providential coincidences, rabbinic tradition, rabbis on marriage, reductionism and romance, romantic love as delirium, romantic love as madness, romantic marriage, romantic view, saving the college, serious romantic, taking oneself seriously, telephone courtship, the 3 biblical patriarchs, The Covenant in history, trained philosopher, true love, wedding anniversary
6 Comments
Proceedings and Addresses
Proceedings and Addresses Proceedings is the shared forum, like the Athenian agora, where American philosophers who have managed to command the attention of their colleagues publish their invited addresses. Since 2000, I’ve stepped down from active faculty status (though not … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, 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, hegemony, heroes, hierarchy, history of ideas, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, institutional power, life and death struggle, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, non-violence, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, roles, romance, romantic love, science, scientism, seduction, self-deception, seventeenth century, sex appeal, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, status, status of women, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged 17th century thought, Abigail's Adages, academic gossip, academic infighting, academic papers, academic politics, academic wives, agora, American philosophers, American Philosophy, APA, APA’s Memorial Minutes, APA’s Presidential Address, Athenian agora, Authenticity, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn College Philosophy Department, confirmation bias, Contemporary philosophy, cut throat business, discrediting reason, dog eat dog, epistemolgy, faculty status, finding oneself, giving a paper, good advice, high-power husband, human trustworthiness, impartial criteria, intellectual competition, intimate ties, invited addresses, Julia Driver, mathematical physics, misology, modern philosophy, moral criteria, moral prioritization, New York diner, one thought too many, pecking order, Penelope Maddy, personal v universal, philosophic argument, physicalism, primary and secondary qualities, Proceedings and Addresses, science and human values, search for truth, self-realization, sense of belonging, sense of decency, shared reasoning, snubbing, social forces, social prudence, The American Philosophical Association, The Enlightenment, the football field, the human zoo, the latest stuff, the longest conversation, the measurement of nature, theory of knowledge, universal criteria, universal ties, wives and widows, women philosophers
2 Comments
Sacrificial Acts
Sacrificial Acts A review of mine, written in support of an author I greatly admire, was just accepted for publication. It was written at the sacrifice of long-postponed time and energy that, right now, I really needed to expend … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, art of living, autonomy, books, bureaucracy, cities, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, institutional power, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, martyrdom, masculinity, master/slave relation, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, political, politics of ideas, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, sex appeal, 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, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "The Consolations of Philosophy: Hobbes's Secret; Spinoza's Way" by Henry M. Rosenthal; ed. Abigail L. Rosenthal, 17th Century Philosophers, academia, altruism, “Brooklyn Connections”, Benedict Spinoza, Brooklyn College, career advancement, career sacrifice, college curriculum, deathbed promise, expecting pay off, expecting rewards, faculty fight, father fixation, father/daughter relationships, finding balance, getting published, happy endings, higher education, honoring commitments, impromptu speech, invited speaker, Jerry L. Martin, job struggle, knowing what is due, Life Force, love at first sight, love sight unseen, modern philosophy, online editors, online publications, overcoming the ego, personal life, posthumous work, professional advancement, professional reputation, professional standing, providence, publication, self-sacrifice, setting priorities, strategic acumen, tea with friends, teaching obligations, Thomas Hobbes, unexpected rewards, unjust firing, unpublished manuscript, unselfishness
2 Comments
