Tag Archives: death

Death Be Not Proud

Posted on August 24, 2021 by Abigail

Death Be Not Proud We think of our life stories as headed toward a concluding sentence, after which, if they were novels, we would see written: “The End.” Not that everyone conceives this “end” the same way. Take Heidegger, the … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, bigotry, books, bureaucracy, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, freedom, friendship, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, journalism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master/slave relation, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, morality, mortality, mysticism, non-violence, novels, ontology, oppression, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, Renaissance, roles, science, scientism, secular, seduction, 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, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged A.J. Ayer, all is Love, all is One, Anglo-American Philosophy, Australian materialism, Authenticity, being-toward-death, brain as cause, brain as transmitter, brain effects of NDE's, brute power, close-mindedness, Coma Science Group, cultural breakthrough, David M. Armstrong, death, dogmatic skepticism, dominance and subordination, Dr. Francois Lallier, end of story, epiphenomenon, evidence for NDE's, experiences de mort imminente, fear of death, French existentialism, functional power, functionalism, German existentialism, golden rule, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean-Paul Sartre’s fundamental project, John Donne's Death Be Not Proud, life review, limitless love, losing the fear of death, Martin Heidegger, mauvaise foi, meaning of life, meeting deceased relatives, metaphysical idealism, metaphysical monism, metaphysical pluralism, my death, nature and nurture, NDE, NDE survivors' reports, NDE typical features, near death experience, out of body experiences, paradigm breaking, physicalism, Pim Van Lommel, privilege and oppression, quantum entanglement, science and the paranormal, scientific investigation of NDE's, Steven Laurey, supervenience, the for-itself, the in-itself, they-self, upward reductionism, veridical OBE's, Victor Zammit’s Friday Afterlife Report, worthiness of a life | 5 Comments

In the Hall of Mourning, There are Many Mansions

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Abigail

In the Hall of Mourning, There are Many Mansions Elmer Sprague passed away in his sleep, April 19th, 11:20 a.m. On July 17th, 2018, a friend got in touch to tell me he’d been scheduled for the gravest kind of … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, eternity, ethics, existentialism, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, immortality, Jews, Judaism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, masculinity, memoir, memory, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, ontology, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, scientism, secular, self-deception, 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, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged argument with God, beauty of youth, Biblical characters, brain surgery, collegial friendship, collegiality, death, death and spirituality, death of Moses, doing what one says, End-of-Life, faithfulness, field of action, ghost in the machine, grownup life, heroic treatment, innocence, integrating thought and action, life aims, life and death, life lessons, meaning of death, meaning of life, medical experts, medical verdicts, midrash, mind and body, mind/body harmony, mind/body problem, original sin, philosophy as learning how to die, post-surgical report, put together life, relative innocence, reliability, Sarah as a bride, Socrates, the rough and the smooth, theological doctrines, through thick and thin, timely death, truth seeker, untimely death, wrongly accused, young David, young Joseph | Leave a comment

“Proof of Heaven?”

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Abigail

“Proof of Heaven?” Epicurus, ancient atomist and empiricist that he was, taught that we human beings are composed of large numbers of atoms, each one too tiny to see. So, he maintained, is everything else. When such collections of … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, 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, journalism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, mysticism, novels, ontology, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, promissory notes, propaganda, public facade, public intellectual, radicalism, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, scientism, secular, self-deception, 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, twentieth century, twenty-first century, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged academic presentations, ancient atomism, Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks, ants, atomism, brain death, brain surgery, coma, comforts of religion, cultural paradigm, death, death as the end, death is not, determinism, dissolution, divine beauty, divine light, divine Love, E. coli bacteria, Eben Alexander’s Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey Into the Afterlife, enjoying solitude, Epicurus, Esquire magazine, fear of death, Harvard Medical School, heart death, heavenly support, hyper-reality, identity theory, journalistic expose, journey to the after-life, kabbalist, medical credentials, medical warrant, medically inexplicable recovery, mind as brain, moral struggle, near death experience, neocortex, neuroscientists, Omaha Nebraska, paradigm change, physical anxiety, physical vulnerability, received opinion, scientific consensus, scientific fact, Scott Wade, Sioux City Iowa, solitude., stress fracture, surviving brain death, surviving heart death, total death, Ultrasound Surgery Foundation in Charlottesville VA, world of action | Leave a comment

Death, Dying, and Heroes

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Abigail

Death, Dying, and Heroes Nowadays it’s not uncommon to hear people say that they’re not afraid of death, just of dying. I think this is heard more frequently than it used to be. The news that consciousness does survive the … Continue reading →

Posted in action, afterlife, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, bureaucracy, childhood, chivalry, class, contemplation, cool, courage, courtship, culture, desire, erotic life, eternity, evil, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, health, heroes, hidden God, history of ideas, ideality, identity, immortality, institutional power, life and death struggle, love, masculinity, memory, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, mysticism, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, politics of ideas, power, presence, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, scientism, self-deception, social climbing, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the profane, the sacred, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, work, Zeitgeist | Tagged a son's recollections, a time to die, academics, afterlife, art of dying, Art of Living, becoming who one is, bereavement, bodily ills, brain death, cancer, courage, death, dying, ebbing natural force, extraordinary people, father and son, father-in-law, father-son relations, fear of death, fear of doctors, going to the light, good storyteller, grace, gratitude to caregivers, heaven and hell, heroes, hospice care, lasting love, Leo Tolstoy, Leo Tolstoy's Death of Ivan Ilyich, letting go, letting nature take its course, losing power, marital love, natural force, navigating old age, not being fooled, opinion shapers, ordinary people, patience in dying, philosophers, plain speech, retirement facility, reviewers, secular humanists, self-containment, self-renewal, self-restraint, social scientists, storytelling, straight talk, subtle realism, surrender in dying, surviving death, tai chi class, Texas in the 1920s, Texas speech, the humanities, theologians, unembellished speech, walkers, worldly cares | 11 Comments

“I, A Happy Woman?”

Posted on April 11, 2017 by Abigail

“I, A Happy Woman?” Every morning I begin the day with a few moments – as long as seems required – for meditation. This is a Two Step process. First, I try to get as much of me as I … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art of living, atheism, autonomy, Biblical God, 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, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jews, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mysticism, non-violence, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, scientism, 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, twenty-first century, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged AAR, academic conference, academic theology, American Academy of Religion, athlete's focus, Authenticity, Boston University, centering, cutting edge theology, death, divine input, divine message, divine/human partnership, eminent theologians, Epistemology, fallenness, feeling safe, fullfilment, happiness, happy woman, high anxiety, inner depth, introspection, life guarantees, lifemanship, living in time, major theologians, Martin Luther, meditation, micro-history, missteps, morning meditation, morning routine, moving through time, Paul Tillich, prayer, prayer guidance, prayer missteps, prayer mistakes, self review, self-inspection, shallowness, sin, sin and death, sincerity, spiritual depth, spiritual mistakes, spiritual shallowness, spiritual superficiality, static condition, temporality, the Great Author, theological epistemology, theological fashions, theology, Theology Without Walls, TWW, understanding one's role | 2 Comments

Michael Wyschogrod

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Abigail

Michael Wyschogrod When the Jewish Review of Books arrived a few days ago, I noticed with pleasure the cover article, “Michael Wyschogrod and the Challenge of God’s Scandalous Love.” Good! I thought. Michael is being attended to and treated as … Continue reading →

Posted in academe, action, afterlife, alienation, art of living, atheism, Bible, Biblical God, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, culture, desire, dialectic, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, freedom, friendship, guilt and innocence, health, heroes, hidden God, history, history of ideas, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immortality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, love, masculinity, memoir, memory, mortality, oppression, past and future, philosophy, political, political movements, power, propaganda, psychology, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, social conventions, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "Jewish Review of Books", academic colleagueship, academica grievance hearing, American Academy of Religion, anthropomorphic God, Berlin, Biblical God, cancer surgery, chosen people, Christian-Jewish relations, City University of New York, collegial relations, death, defenselessness, Divine closeness, Divine Presence, Edith Wyschogrod, existentialism, father-daughter relation, German police, God's favoritism, God's love, God's personal love, God's scandalous love, Heidegger, interfaith discussion, interfaith group, interfaith negotiation, Jerry L. Martin's "God: an Autobiography as Told to a Philosopher", Jewish and Christian religionists, Jewish orthodoxy, Jewish theologians, Jewish tradition, Kristallnacht, legalism, Leora Batnitzky, Michael Wyschogrod, Michael Wyschogrod's Kierkegaard and Heidegger: The Ontology of Existence, Michael Wyschogrod's The Body of Faith, Nazism, Night of Broken Glass, observant Jews, pan-halachism, particularism and universalism, particularlism, personal God, Phenomenology, philosophy, political defenses, Pope Benedict, Pope John Paul II, post-liberal Protestant theology, problem of evil, Protestant churches, public causes, Public Intellectual, Rabbinic commentary, Rainbow Group, sin, suffering of love, The Covenant, the election, the God of the philosophers, the Jewish God, theologian, theological dialogue, theology, Torah Study, universalism, unmerited suffering, witness, witnessing | 6 Comments

Landscapes of the Heart

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Abigail

Landscapes of the Heart I hadn’t been to Manhattan (my home town) in over two years. But last week I went into town to meet my life-long friends, Frank and Ada, at the Neue Gallerie on 86th and Fifth. That’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, autonomy, beauty, Bible, childhood, Christianity, cities, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, culture, desire, dialectic, eighteenth century, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, hidden God, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, immortality, Jews, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, memoir, memory, modernism, mortality, nineteenth-century, oppression, past and future, peace, political movements, power, propaganda, psychology, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, seduction, sex appeal, sexuality, social conventions, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 9/11/01, ancient regime, art gallery, artifacts, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Buddhist, cab drivers, Central Park, character assasination, Christian, city life, civic life, civic wounds, coquettrie, court painter, deal-making, death, death scenes, defamation, dorm life, dying, eavesdropping, Edvard Munch, Edvard Munch's "The Scream", energy, Evangelical Christian, Existential dilemmas, farewells, feminine intelligence, French Revolution, German Expressionism, gossip, graveyards, guillotine, healing, Hebrew prayer, homesickness, igneous rock, internet shopping, landscape, last words, love of New York, love of Texas, Lower Manhattan, Loyalty, Marie Antoinette, mourning, Neue Gallerie, New World Trade Center, New Yorkers, Norwegian painters, nostalgia, painting, personal identity, pied à terre, portrait painting, psalm, rebirth, recollection, Reign of Terror, repair process, reputation, resurrection, skyline, skyscrapers, slander, small shops, small town life, social wounds, sociopaths, soul of a city, Spring, Twin Towers, Viennese cafés, Viennese pastries, Vigée Le Brun, will to live, World Trade Center, World War I, wounds | Leave a comment

Looking Out for Number One

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Abigail

Looking Out for Number One Quoted in full, Rabbi Hillel’s famous saying goes like this: If I am not for myself, who will be? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when? Though … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, action, alienation, anthropology, art, autonomy, Christianity, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, culture, desire, dialectic, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, health, identity, idolatry, immortality, institutional power, Jews, life and death struggle, love, memoir, modernism, mortality, mysticism, non-violence, peace, power, psychology, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, time, Uncategorized, Zeitgeist | Tagged alternative treatments, baptism, bereavement, Bucks County, cancer standard of care, charity, Christianity, conversion ceremony, conversions, cynicism, death, distractions, Downeast Maine, egoism, farewells, friendship, funerals, grief, horseback riding, indifference, intimacy, Jewish sages, Judaism, life and death, memorials, mikvah, mitzvot, mortal illness, mourning, number one, obsequies, opportunism, personal presence, personal relations, purity, Rabbi Hillel, rabbinic wisdom, religious affiliation, religious conversion, religious obligation, sages of antiquity, selfishness, Shekinah, sickness and health, social defenses, social facade, social static, solipsism, temple congregation, Valery Rybakow, Weltanschauug, worldview | 7 Comments

“Gossip”

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Abigail

“Gossip” One of Abigail’s Adages – though I have yet to post it – is this: Slander is always believed. Even more so if it’s in print. Jurgen Habermas wrote a book called (forgive me, it’s his title, not mine) … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art, autonomy, chivalry, cities, class, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, culture, desire, dialectic, eighteenth century, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, heroes, history, history of ideas, identity, ideology, idolatry, immortality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, martyrdom, mind control, nineteenth-century, philosophy, political, political movements, power, psychology, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, 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, twenty-first century, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 18th century clubs, Ancient Judea, baby names, banishment, cafes, capital crime, cartoons, celebrity, character assasination, Classical Athens, coffee houses, credulity, crucifiction, damaging fiction, Danish philosophy, death, defamation, Downeast Maine, execution, friendship, gazettes, gossip, guilty verdicts, hemlock, Herodotus' Histories, I.F. Stone, I.F. Stones' The Trial of Socrates, I.F. Stones' Weekly, injustice, Jesus, Jurgen Habermas, justice, libel, Loyalty, magazines, malice, Marie Antoinette, modern Israel, moral luck, moral smallness, newsletters, op-eds, opinion journalism, ostracism, political cartoons, popularity, pornographic pamplets, post-war malaise, posthumous reputation, public opinion, quarrel, reputation, reputation loss, reputation rehabilitation, salons, shunning, slander, small town life, Socrates, Soren Kierkegaard, stereotyping, The Corsair, village life | 3 Comments

Close Friends

Posted on August 4, 2015 by Abigail

Close Friends This is one I keep revisiting. But friendship is one of life’s prime supports – almost the axis on which the whole thing turns – so one post hardly exhausts the subject. Last Sunday morning I spoke long … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, alienation, art, autonomy, chivalry, cities, class, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courtship, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, guilt and innocence, history of ideas, identity, ideology, idolatry, institutional power, Jews, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, modernism, nineteenth-century, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, power, psychology, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, roles, seduction, sex appeal, social conventions, spirituality, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of men, theism, time, twentieth century, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged academia, Authenticity, best friends, biography, college friends, combat, consequences, consolation, conversation, David and Goliath, David and Jonathan, David's lament, death, dynastic succession, farmgirl, friendship, genius, heir, Henry M. Rosenthal, Heraclitus, human worth, King Saul, lament, lifelong friendship, Lionel Trilling, Lord of hosts, love, male beauty, male friendship, mediation, memory, Old Testament, personal and political, personal rift, philosophy student, Plato, playing the harp, political talent, political threat, present and future, Psalms, slingshot, Success, tape recording, The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250-1900, William (Johnson) Cory, womanizing | Leave a comment

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