Tag Archives: Cain and Abel

Must Our Stories Come Out Right?

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Abigail

In my passage from childhood to young girlhood, there were two stories I relied on for clues about the life that lay ahead of me. The first was Homer’s Odyssey. The second was Joseph and His Brothers (from Genesis 37-50) … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, 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, Hegel, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, Idealism-, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, memory, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, motherhood, novels, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, poetry, political, politics of ideas, postmodernism, 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, 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, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a daughter’s sorrows, a mother’s secret, a woman’s sorrows, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", Abigail L. Rosenthal's "God and the Care for One's Story", appeasement, Athena’s rejuvenating gift, Biblical high drama, bystanders’ denial of evil, Cain and Abel, calling evil by its name, Christianity’s doctrine of original sin, Christianity’s view of sin, clever enemies, clues for living, coat of many colors, divine help, divine intervention helping nature, effective enemies, encountering evil, enemies of the story, exile and homecoming, figuring out one’s parents, fratricide in history, Genesis 37-50, good stories, growing up, happy endings, Homer's Odyssey, how to deal with evil, human wickedness, ignorance and unintended evil, ignorance vs wickedness, Joseph and dreams, Joseph in Egypt, Joseph meets his brothers, Judaism’s doctrine of sin, Judaism’s view of sin, judgmentalism and moral judgment, living a good story, long voyage home, mapping one’s personal future, misunderstanding vs wickedness, moral philosophers and evil, moral relativism, mothers and daughters, Odysseus and Penelope, Odysseus's homecoming, placating evil, providence overriding nature, providential element in stories, public success private failure, quest for the grail, real life and mythology, recognition and reunion, recognizing evil, refusal to judge evil, romantic hopelessness, romantic hopes, saving the story, silver tongued enemies, sins of the mothers, stories in the Bible, suffering in nature, the Bible’s dramatic stories, the concealed truth in official stories, the hero’s journey, the invisible stories of women, the Joseph story, the owl of Athena, the problem of evil, the quest, the wise child knows her parents, theodicy, theology and the problem of evil, Thomas Mann's Joseph and His Brothers, unspoken disapproval, when evil looks good, women friends, women’s cover stories, women’s secrets, young girlhood | 1 Comment

How I Grew Up, Eventually

Posted on May 2, 2023 by Abigail

Abbie at 10 on Prince. I never wanted to grow up. In fact, one of my childhood heroes was Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up. For one thing, I thought grownups were ugly. They were too big, which … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, book reviews, books, childhood, chivalry, 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, 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, immortality, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, martyrdom, master/slave relation, memoir, memory, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, motherhood, non-violence, novels, ontology, oppression, past and future, peace, philosophy, political, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, 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, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged academic politics, act like a woman, acting as if the dead can’t see you, adjusting to womanhood, adolescence, adult friendships, adults and children, antisemitism in academe, artificial adulthood, at home in one’s skin, becoming oneself, behind the back of the dead, believing defamatory fictions, Cain and Abel, cat’s away mice will play, childhood freedom, childhood heroes, collegial friendships, congenial social circles, CUNY faculty, daughterly duties, defamatory fictions, don’t speak ill of the dead, Downeast Maine, fight for popularity, fight for the legacy, filial piety, fitting into one's skin, fragile integrity, fratricide, go along to get along, growing pains, growing up, growing up and liking it, growing up and not liking it, grownup orphan, grownups, hard to fool, Henry M Rosenthal’s The Consolations of Philosophy: Hobbes's Secret; Spinoza’s Way, house in Maine, how children see adults, how not to greet a child, human nature and philosophy, identity development, ingratitude, inherited friendships, interesting parents, learned womanliness, losing friends, Maine locals, memorial service, midlife redefinition, novelistic, out of the mouths of babes, parental friends, personality redefinition, Peter Pan, philosophy as home, philosophy as natural, posthumous rivalries, put your money where your mouth is, Rav Tsair, real life is stranger than fiction, redefining self, remaining oneself, repositioning in adulthood, restoring oneself, romantic eligibility, saying what you see, showing true colors, sincerity of children, slander is always believed, small town realism, social standing, staying healthy in a fight, teenage dating, teenagers, the dead can see us, troubles of adolescence, unseen by the dead, unsupported groundless allegations, wallflowers, who am I?, world of one’s parents | Leave a comment

Easter and Passover

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Abigail

Easter and Passover This year, the climactic commemorative celebration days for each religion actually did overlap. Which raised questions about their possible relationship, or at least how they stand today vis a vis each other. I tend to agree with … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, female power, femininity, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, health, 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, martyrdom, masculinity, medieval, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, mysticism, ontology, oppression, past and future, peace, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, propaganda, public facade, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, secular, 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, victimhood, victims, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abel's sacrifice, acting acceptably to God, after the Fall, asymmetry of the sexes, Athens and Jerusalem, Cain and Abel, Cain's hatred for Abel, celebration days, Christian doctrine, Christianity, Christianity and culture, Christianity and Judaism, Classical thought, clear of mind, country gospel, despair, despair as premature, Divine proximity, Easter, eating the apple, escaping despair, eviction from Eden, Exodus story, explaining the Crucifixion, face to face, Gan Eden, Genesis 3, gifts of Christianity, God's Jewish pilot project, historicity of the Bible, Holy envy, humanity as sinful, Interfaith dialogue, irreparable faults, irreparable mistakes, Israelite experience, Jewish Theological Seminary, Jewish/Christian coexistence, Jewish/Christian reciprocal forgiveness, Jews contribution to the world, Judaism, Judaism for export, Krister Stendahl, life review, living in history, living realistically, living without disguises, longest hatred, longing for transcendence, meeting God in action, Michael Wyschogrod, original sin, Passover, Passover and theology, politics of religion, pure of heart, Rabbi Irving Greenberg, rabbinical students, religious celebration, religious coexistence, religious differences, religious discussion, repairing relationships, resolving misunderstandings, Resurrection of Jesus, telling good from evil, the charge of deicide, The Garden of Eden, the historical condition, the human condition, the lens of sin, theological discussion, Union Theological Seminary, work obligation, world without Christianity | Leave a comment

Situated in History

Posted on November 30, 2021 by Abigail

Situated in History This might be an unusual trait, but I am someone who has trouble knowing who she is, and what life asks of her, until she gets some clarity about her place in history. By “place in history” … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, action, afterlife, alienation, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, books, chivalry, Christianity, 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, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, 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, Messianic Age, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, non-violence, novels, ontology, oppression, past and future, peace, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public intellectual, race, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romantic love, secular, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, 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, Utopia, victimhood, violence, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged alternate timeline, biblical archetype, Cain and Abel, cheap grace, Chilul HaShem, Christian forgiveness, curing racism, desecration of the name, ecological solutions, feminine dignity, forgetting wrongs, forgiveness as therapy, forgiving wrongs, global competition, God as Witness, God in history, God's feminine image, history and Jews, history as illusion, Isaiah's vision, Jewish forgiveness, Jewish identity, linear time and narrative, linear time and religion, messianic expectations, original sin, personal transformation, place in history, Plato's Republic, redemption, satyagraha, saving the planet, sibling rivalry, spiritually incurable, stains on conscience, the course of human events, the historical condition, time and Jews, wrestling with the angel | Leave a comment

My First Teaching Non-Anxiety Dream

Posted on June 15, 2021 by Abigail

“Moses and the Tablets”Rembrandt, 1659 My First Teaching Non-Anxiety Dream I don’t know how many academics and former academics have teaching anxiety dreams, but mine followed me even after stepping down from active faculty status. You can take the girl … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, Bible, Biblical God, book reviews, books, Christianity, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, Idealism-, ideality, identity, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, scientism, secular, self-deception, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, 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, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged anxiety dreams, blaming Moses, Book of Numbers, Cain and Abel, classroom discipline, documentary hypothesis, ecumenical dream, Exodus narrative, fear of public speaking, first fratricide, Hebrew Bible as history, Hebrew Scriptures, historicity of bible, Iliad, Israelite grumbling, Israelite wilderness narrative, Jewish calendar year, Korah's rebellion, liberal denomination, literary text interpretation, Mahabarata, Moses' leadership, naturalistic text interpretation, naturalistic worldview, nightmare, parashah, Pentateuch, Plato's influence, providential intervention, recurrent nightmare, Reform congregation, spiritual envy, student back talk, student's support, teacher's authority, Torah, Torah Study, truth v persuasiveness, Western philosophy | Leave a comment

Philosophy and Philosophy

Posted on May 11, 2021 by Abigail

Philosophy and Philosophy In recent months, I’ve been reading books that — if I weave them together — bestow overviews of two major branches of philosophy: Analytic Philosophy and Continental Philosophy. They have dominated the field for the last hundred … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, art of living, atheism, autonomy, Bible, Biblical God, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, 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, Judaism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, nineteenth-century, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romanticism, scientism, self-deception, 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, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 20th-century philosophy, A.J. Ayer, actors in history, Albert Camus, Albert Einstein, Alexandre Kojève, Alexandre Kojève's Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: Lectures on the "Phenomenology of Spirit", Analytic philosophy, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Bertrand Russell, book of Genesis, Cain and Abel, Cambridge University, Carl Hempel, Cheryl Misak’s Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers, Continental philosophy, creator/human relations, cultural diversity, cure for history, curing envy, David Edmonds's The Murder of Professor Schlick: The Rise and Fall of the Vienna Circle, dialectic of history, end of history, envy in history, ethical statements, first fratricide, first murder, Frank Ramsey, French existentialism, Freud, Freudian psychoanalysis, G. W. F. Hegel, goal of history, Hans Reichenbach, Hegelian history, history and transcendence, history's beginning, identity quest, Jews in the Vienna Circle, Kojève’s lectures, logical empiricism, logical positivism, logical truth, Ludwig Wittgenstein, meaning of sacrifice, meaningful statements, Neo-Marxism, oppressed and oppressor, Otto Neurath, philosophy in Vienna, philosophy of history, philosophy of science, post-Darwinian era, pre-history, problematic of history, Ray Monk’s Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius, relation to truth, rhetoric of equality, Rudolph Carnap, same and other, stages of history, statements about cosmogony, statements about probabilities, statements about unobservables, struggle for prestige, The Vienna Circle, timeless truth, two branches of philosophy, unreal cities, verifiable fact, verification principle, Vienna, Vienna Circle manifesto, Werner Heisenberg | 1 Comment

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