Tag Archives: Gandhi

Truth and truths

Truth and truths It was early in my philosophy major at Barnard College when a professor returned a paper of mine, to which he had given a less than stellar grade, with the comment, “By now you should know better … Continue reading

Posted in academe, action, afterlife, art of living, autonomy, books, contemplation, contradictions, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, freedom, friendship, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, Jews, life and death struggle, love, male power, martyrdom, memoir, memory, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, non-violence, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, scientism, secular, 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, time, twentieth century, victimhood, victims, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Saints, Lovers and Writers

Saints, Lovers and Writers Girls and women tend to think that their work is an addendum, an add-on, to the main event: life. I have published books and articles, given papers internationally, fought for the right to teach philosophy without … Continue reading

Posted in absurdism, action, afterlife, art, art of living, autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, childhood, Christianity, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, faith, femininity, feminism, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, heroes, hidden God, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, immortality, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, law, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, medieval, memoir, memory, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, motherhood, mysticism, nineteenth-century, non-violence, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, political movements, politics of ideas, power, presence, promissory notes, psychology, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, 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, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“The Suffering of the Situation”

“The Suffering of the Situation” While the record snowfall piled up, higher than my shoulders where it touched the house in some corners, I was not thinking how beautiful it all was. I was not breaking out the marshmallows to … Continue reading

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art of living, atheism, autonomy, Christianity, cities, contemplation, contradictions, courage, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, freedom, friendship, guilt and innocence, Hegel, heroes, hidden God, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, institutional power, Jews, journalism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, martyrdom, masculinity, master, medieval, memoir, Messianic Age, mind control, modernism, mortality, nineteenth-century, non-violence, ontology, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political, political movements, power, propaganda, psychology, public intellectual, race, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, seduction, slave, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Peace”

“Peace” Peace! Who doesn’t want it? (Well, lots of people, apparently.) More to the present point: in what ways have I shown a preference for peace, and what’s the peace story for me now? When I was sixteen, I spent … Continue reading

Posted in action, culture, desire, ethics, evil, femininity, freedom, guilt and innocence, history, history of ideas, life and death struggle, love, memoir, peace, political movements, power, psychology, relationships, roles, sexuality, social conventions, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of woman, war, work | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“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

“Sex Appeal”

“Sex Appeal” Is it a good thing? A subversive thing? A morally neutral thing? Some years ago, I felt the need of fresh light on my situation. Since modern life’s more approved diagnostic tools and remedies seemed to me shopworn … Continue reading

Posted in culture, desire, erotic life, femininity, feminism, philosophy, relationships, sexuality, social conventions, spirituality, the problematic of woman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment