Tag Archives: childhood

Filial Piety

Filial Piety I once wrote an article whose original title was “Filial Piety.”  That’s the category under which people used to cite the duties and types of honor that children were thought to owe their parents.  Every philosophical journal to … Continue reading

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The Horse Knows

The Horse Knows As a child, I regarded animals as people. Particularly large animals, like the big dog that followed me around when we were at Hilltop, the bungalow colony in New Jersey where my family spent summers. They looked … Continue reading

Posted in Action, Art of Living, beauty, books, Childhood, Contemplation, Cool, Courage, Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Faith, Femininity, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Literature, Love, Memoir, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, non-violence, novels, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, Power, presence, Psychology, public facade, relationships, Religion, Renaissance, Roles, Romance, Romanticism, self-deception, 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, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Blame Game

The Blame Game We don’t start life with a clean slate. Childhood is the time we spend figuring out what kind of a hand of cards we’ve been dealt and how to start playing it. What happens to us – … Continue reading

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Paying Nostalgia Forward

Paying Nostalgia Forward Jerry and I celebrated our eighteenth wedding anniversary last Friday. We watched the inauguration (moving right along here), and then drove through the rain to a Hindu temple in New Jersey that the wonderful lady who runs … Continue reading

Posted in Academe, Action, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Childhood, Chivalry, Cities, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Faith, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Health, Heroes, hidden God, History, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Institutional Power, Literature, Love, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, motherhood, Mysticism, Ontology, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, politics, Power, presence, promissory notes, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“The Well of Time”

“The Well of Time” “Very deep is the well of the past.” So, in Joseph and His Brothers, Thomas Mann begins his monumental recreation of the Biblical Book of Genesis. In early adolescence, Mann’s Joseph was my favorite book, together … Continue reading

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“Imperfections”

“Imperfections” I always wanted to grow up to be a great lover, a famous saint or – if it could be arranged – both. There were obstacles, the memory of which still visits me from time to time. For example, … Continue reading

Posted in Alienation, Art, Culture, Ethics, Evil, Faith, Guilt and Innocence, Literature, Memoir, motherhood, Power, Psychology, relationships, Roles, Social Conventions, Spirituality, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

“Writing”

“Writing” I grew up among people whose most-oft-voiced concern was whether they would get their book, or next book, written. Without the book, the life-worth dwindled down to a small pile of ash, as my child’s mind pictured it. It … Continue reading

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“Keeping Promises”

“Keeping Promises” As a little girl, one of my vivid memories of being caught in the wrong belongs to the gift a camp counselor once gave me. This gift-giving happened the last day of the season of the Day Camp … Continue reading

Posted in Alienation, Art, Chivalry, Courtship, Desire, Erotic Life, Faith, Guilt and Innocence, Male Power, Memoir, Psychology, relationships, Social Conventions, The Problematic of Woman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Cowboy Up”

  “Cowboy Up” Like many girls, I’ve always loved horses. What does that mean? I don’t know if it has to mean anything. When there were still dray horses on Madison Avenue, the household sugar cubes used to disappear into … Continue reading

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“Victories”

“Victories” I won my first – and in many ways biggest – victory when I was six. My opponent was only five, which may subtract some from the glory, but he was a remarkably bad five-year-old. Jan was the younger … Continue reading

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