Tag Archives: David Hume

Naked Apes?

Posted on October 21, 2025 by Abigail

Lately I happen to have been reading two books on what Darwin – and his intellectual descendants (like Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene or Jane Goodall, In the Shadow of Man) – got wrong! The two books are philosopher … 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 Archeology, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, Desire and Authenticity, dialectic, eighteenth century, erotic life, 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, Industrial Revolution, 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, race, racism, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, remembrance, Renaissance, 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 abortion public opposition private need, abstract ideals vs lived views, ape reproductive strategies, apes and pair bonding, apes and parenting, Applied Ethics, Atheism, authenticity and sociobiology, Bible as history book, competition and courtship, Creationism, culture and theories, Darwin’s allies, Darwinian courtship, David Hume, David Stove’s Darwinian Fairy Tales, Desmond Morris’ The Naked Ape, DMA, erotic life and reductionism, etiquette for courtship, female guilt, female pliancy, groupthink, healthy relationships, herd mentality, Homo sapiens and monogamy, human brains and monkey brains, human evolution, human mating strategies, human psychology, idealism and cynicism, idealism vs real life, Jane Goodall’s In the Shadow of Man, jealousy in human beings, Jonathan Leaf’s The Primate Myth, lived philosophy, male guilt, MRI, Oedipus complex, pair bonding and human evolution, philosophical reductionism, possessiveness in human beings, power politics, prehistoric monogamy, primitivism and social style, profaning the sacred, Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene, sex differences, simian reproductive strategies, social influence of theories, social result of wrong theories, sociobiology and bigotry, sociobiology and civilization, sociobiology and gender roles, sociobiology and human courtship, sociobiology and man/woman relations, sociobiology and misanthropy, sociobiology and misogyny, sociobiology and seduction, sociobiology and sincerity, sociobiology’s social influence, survival of the fittest, theology vs real life, theories and human reality, Thomas Malthus, toughness in women, unhealthy relationships, virginity and courtship, war of the sexes, who gets abortions, young men and chivalry | 2 Comments

One of a Kind

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Abigail

David Stove was a philosopher of the not-cut-to pattern kind. (Is that a kind? Just how many are there?) For example, he did not hesitate to kick the seemingly unassailable Charles Darwin in the shins for a train of errors … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, agnosticism, alienation, anthropology, appreciation, art of living, atheism, authenticity, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, chivalry, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, eighteenth century, eternity, ethics, ethnicity, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, fatherhood, female power, femininity, feminism, filial piety, 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, journalism, law, 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, mortality, Nihilism, nineteenth-century, non-violence, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, poetry, political movements, 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, romanticism, science, scientism, secular, self-deception, 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, Truth, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal’s A Good Look at Evil, Abigail L. Rosenthal’s Getting Past Marx and Freud, academic history, academic philosophy, academic politics, academic rivalry, Analytic philosophy, Anti-Utopianism, atheism and suicide, Australian academe, Australian politics, Bill Lycan, candid correspondence, capsizing an orderly life, Charles Darwin, colleagues and conformism, commonsensical philosopher, concealing a sensitive soul, conservatism and liberalism, Continental philosophy, crisis overpowering coping strategies, cultural assumptions, Darwin and human motivation, Darwin’s theoretical shortcomings, David Armstrong, David Hume, David Stove, David Stove Archive, David Stove’s Darwinian Fairytales: Selfish Genes Errors of Heredity and Other Fables of Evolution, dramatic life change, Edgar Allan Poe, empiricism, eulogy, ex-husbands, Feminism, first husband, gentlemanliness and politics, healthy common sense, ideology and academe, idols of the tribe, intellectual debts, John Bacon, kangaroos and black swans, Marxism, meritocracy, methodological empiricism and metaphysical materialism, Michael Devitt, moderation as lifestyle, non-believer, nonconformist academic, nonconformist philosopher, nonconformist thinking, obituary and posthumous friendship, overpowering crisis, philosophical absurdism, philosophical atheist, philosophical competition, philosophical conversation, philosophical correspondence, philosophical erudition, philosophical gossip, philosophical guide, philosophical Humean, philosophical marriage, Philosophical Materialism, philosophical pen pals, philosophizing with style, philosophy at Sydney University, Poe’s The Raven, political correctness, prayer for suicide victim, private despair, protecting a sensitive soul, providential divorce, providential life-turn, providential marriage, received views, research fellow, right wing and left wing, Roger Kimball, sacred cow, sensitive soul, shocking life-crisis, social conformism, suicide and afterlife, suicide and choice, Sydney Australia, Sydney University Staff Club, Trad and Mod Philosophy Dept, traditional and modern philosophy, tragic crisis in an even-tempered life, trendy philosophy, tyranny of one’s peers, tyranny of public opinion, unexpected crisis, University of Sydney, unsung heroes | 3 Comments

What’s My Relation to God as of Now?

Posted on May 25, 2021 by Abigail

What’s My Relation to God as of Now? From my earliest memories, the question, Is there a God, wasn’t a question I asked. This though, once I grew up, I got to be a philosopher by profession, temperament and conviction. … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, Biblical God, books, childhood, cities, contemplation, contradictions, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, evil, existentialism, faith, female power, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, guilt and innocence, Hegel, heroes, hidden God, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, idolatry, Jews, Judaism, life and death struggle, love, memoir, memory, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, motherhood, ontology, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, secular, self-deception, 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, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", Abraham, Abraham and Isaac, agnosticism, akeda, Anselm, Anselm's ontological argument, Aquinas, Aquinas's 5 ways, Ariadne's Thread, art of motherhood, Biblical literalism, breaking up with God, clues to a life, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, connecting life phases, connecting the dots, conversion stories, covenantal relationship, crisis of youth, David Hume, decoding clues, dialectical life, Divine command, divine/human relationship, empty altars, false gods, former believer, Freudian diagnostic, getting to God, God's existence, Hegel, inner logic, ironical attitude, Is there God?, life and art, life attitudes, life compromises, life secret, life's questions, loss of faith, maternal art, meaning of life, open-minded search, ousting divinity, personal God, philosopher of history, philosophical life, philosophy major, philosophy of religion, piety, pilgrimage of the spirit, quarter-life crisis, recuperation, rejecting God, relation to God, relationship with God, relationship's foundation, relationships, repressed desires, retrospection, sad clown, self-discovery, self-inquiry, self-irony, self-understanding, Sigmund Freud, skeptical arguments, striking a pose, stumbling of the soul, truth of a life, turbulent twenties, unbelief, unseen connections, witnessing a life, woman philosopher | 2 Comments

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