Tag Archives: inauthenticity

The Story

Posted on July 22, 2025 by Abigail

“The crucial thing is the story.” That is what I claim in A Good Look at Evil, my book which holds that the person who would live a good life finds her own story while the evil-doer may be detected … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, agnosticism, alienation, anthropology, anti-semitism, appreciation, art, art of living, atheism, authenticity, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, 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, institutional power, Jesus, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, 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, 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, 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 a shattering secret, Abigail Rosenthal's A Good Look At Evil, above all do no harm, blame as manipulation, Carl Jung, chemistry and healing, danger acknowledged, dementia praecox, despair and guilt, detecting evil, determinism and relativism, discerning evil, disrupted story, distinguishing fact from fantasy, evil doers, evil psychologized away, evil-doers in real life, good life, guilt and projection, hippocratic oath, illness and fashion, inauthenticity, inducing guilt, infanticide, Jung as mental hospital assistant, Jung in Zurich, Jung's autobiography, Jung's Memories Dreams Reflections, life-saving advice, losing true love, marrying the wrong man, meaningful storyline, medical bureaucracy, medical ethics, medical power, medicalizing desire, mental healing, mental illness and conformism, moral blackmail, mothers and depression, Oedipal guilt, outliving despair, philosophical fashions, power misused, preventing suicide, psychological cures, psychology and healing, psychology's banalization, psychology's conventionalism, psychology's denial of significance, psychology's mistreatment of women, psychology's narrow horizons, psychology's reductionism, psychology-based cures, real life confused with fiction, real-life story, relativism and denial, repairing one's story, repairing the psyche, repairing the soul, Schizophrenia, self-sabotage, self-spoiled story, social vulnerability, spoiling one’s story, status and vulnerability, stolen story, story and philosophical fashion, story as defining the problem, suicide and secrets, suicide and therapy, suicide as the wrong solution, telling fact from fiction, the bureaucracy of psychology, the worst harm, thwarting evil, true stories, truth and healing, unchivalrous conduct, victimization, victims of evil, warning victims, wives and depression | Leave a comment

In Quest of Lost Friendship

Posted on July 15, 2025 by Abigail

The other night I had a dream in which I met a woman whom I used to regard as a friend. But she’d become an ex-friend – in the following fashion. An ill-wisher who’d known me from my earliest days … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, agnosticism, alienation, appreciation, art of living, authenticity, autonomy, bad faith, Biblical God, bigotry, bureaucracy, chivalry, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, 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, institutional power, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, mysticism, Nihilism, non-violence, novels, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, power games, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, remembrance, repairing the culture, 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, terrorism, 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 academic friendships, academic politics, ad hominem attacks, afterlife reunion, afterlife visitation, ambiguity as disguise, believing a damaging lie, broken friendship repaired, candid truthfulness, collegial friends, collegial sense of trust, conversations with a deceased friend, correcting slander, credulous colleagues, credulous family friends, damaging accusations, damaging allegations, damaging gossip, damaging rumors, destroying a reputation, distinctiveness of philosophy, dream reunion, effective defamation, effective slander, evasion of truth, ex-friends, facing the big questions, false accusations, false and damaging accusations, former friends, friends and colleagues, ill-wisher, inauthenticity, intellectual trust, inversions of trust, inversions of truth, legal harm, life pretense vs undisguised afterlife, loss of trust, lost friendship, love of wisdom, meaningful dreams, naïveté as a disguise, narcissism, personal honor, personal honor misrepresented, personality disorders, philosophic friendship, philosophy profaned, politics of experience, pretended ambivalence, pretended appreciation, pretended childishness, pretended confusion, pretended harmlessness, pretended naïveté, pretended non-judgmentalism, professional damage, professional harm, professional patron, professional power, professional protégé, professional protection, protected intellectual space, protecting philosophy, protecting the search for wisdom, Rashomon, repaired friendship, repairing friendship, repentance and forgiveness, restored sincerity, romantic eligibility, search for wisdom, setting the record straight, significant dreams, social demotion, social down-ranking, social terrorism, sowing distrust, spiteful rumors, spoiling friendship, the philosophic life, the philosophic quest, the Rashomon alibi, trust in colleagues, trust in professional life, truth unrecognized, truthfulness vs defamatory lies, trying to undo slander, undermining friendship, undisguised in the afterlife, visitation from the afterlife, wasted words, why philosophy is special, women friends, work friends | Leave a comment

“Thankfulness”

Posted on November 22, 2022 by Abigail

Abbie is unable to write a new column this week because she and her husband, Jerry Martin, are stuck in Denver, CO, where a succession of flights home have been canceled. She and Jerry were in Denver for a fascinating … Continue reading →

Posted in academe, action, alienation, cultural politics, culture, desire, erotic life, faith, friendship, guilt and innocence, history, ideology, philosophy, psychology | Tagged anger, bad faith, blessings, candor, collective community, Committee of Public Safety, consensus, covenant, decorum, dissent, Foucault, French Revolution, gratitude, Hebrew Scripture, homophobia, honesty, ideality, inauthenticity, insensitivity, Islamophobia, Israel, kibbutz, Leviticus, Mount Sinai, personal sincerity, politeness, political correctness, popularity, prayer, racism, ritual, sacrifice, sexism, Thanksgiving, The Archaeological Method, The Terror, Thought Crimes, Torah Study, unity | Leave a comment

“Thankfulness”

Posted on November 23, 2021 by Abigail

“Thankfulness” The other day, in the Saturday morning Torah Study class at my Reform temple, we were studying the verses on the ancient temple cultus detailed – and I mean detailed – in the Book of Leviticus. My patience with these Memory … Continue reading →

Posted in academe, action, alienation, cultural politics, culture, desire, erotic life, faith, friendship, guilt and innocence, history, ideology, philosophy, psychology | Tagged anger, bad faith, blessings, candor, collective community, Committee of Public Safety, consensus, convenant, decorum, dissent, Foucault, French Revolution, gratitude, Hebrew Scripture, homophobia, honesty, ideality, inauthenticity, insensitivity, Islamophobia, Israel, kibbutz, Leviticus, Mount Sinai, personal sincerity, politeness, Political Corrrectness, popularity, prayer, racism, ritual, sacrifice, sexism, Thanksgiving, The Archaeological Method, The Terror, Thought Crimes, Torah Study, unity | 2 Comments

Virtue Epistemology and Feeling Normal

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Abigail

Virtue Epistemology and Feeling Normal I’ve got a funny feeling this is not a trendy topic. Oh well. Here goes. Epistemology, the logos of episteme, is philosophy’s term for theory (or theories) of knowledge. In modern times (that is, from … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art of living, autonomy, books, 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, Industrial Revolution, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, novels, ontology, oppression, past and future, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, seventeenth century, social climbing, 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, theology, time, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 17th century philosophy, academic philosophy, ancient Athens, arête, Aristotle's Laws of Thought, Aristotle's Metaphysics, brain in vat, Copernicus, credibility, defamation, Descartes, empirical trust, epistemological optimism, epistemological pessimism, Epistemology, fallacy of hasty generalization, G.E. Moore, good judgment, gossip, human sociality, inauthenticity, inferential knowledge, intellectual excellence, intellectual trust, intellectual virtue, internalizing insult, internalizing prejudice, Jewish anxiety, judging correctly, Kepler and Galileo, knowledge claims, modern philosophy, modern science, modern skepticism, normality, other minds, other-directedness, philosophy course, political animal, postulating hypothesis, presumed guilty, presumed innocent, presumption of guilt, pretended skepticism, scientific method, self-directedness, self-trust, sense of security, skepticism, slander, social creatures, telling right from wrong, telling truth from falsity, the human norm, The Longest Hatred, theory of knowledge, thick hide, thick-skinned, thin-skinned, trendy topics, virtue epistemology, virtue ethics | Leave a comment

Men on the Timeline

Posted on February 12, 2019 by Abigail

Men on the Timeline The other night I was at the Franco-Tunisian café where I go to get some of my writing done. A sizeable group had taken one side of the section where I found a round table. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bigotry, chivalry, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, institutional power, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, love, male power, masculinity, master/slave relation, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, oppression, past and future, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, reductionism, relationships, roles, romance, romantic love, secular, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual journey, 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, victimhood, victims, violence, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged #metoo, a false life, artists under communism, award-winning films, believing in nothing, believing propaganda, black and white film, breaking faith, cafe eavesdropping, chivalry, classy cafe, communism v capitalism, communist-ruled Poland, condescension, deflecting advances, enabling sexism, escape to Paris, feminist preoccupations, foreign films, France, Franco-Tunisian cafe, grotesque sexism, heaven protect the working girl, high-end customers, human interconnectedness, ideality in men, ideology, inauthenticity, Iron Curtain, le coup de foudre, local diner, loss of faith, loss of trust, love without history, male protectiveness, male pushback, male revenge, manipulativeness, men who can cry, men’s new roles, night on the town, nihilism, out of line remarks, outmoded sexism, Paris, Parisian memories, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, permission to protest, Poland, Polish films, positive male role models, power advantage, pre-feminist days, pretended feminists, psychic interconnectedness, put downs, realistic men, redefining women, redefining women’s lives, reliable men, restaurant eavesdropping, romantic films, sensitivity training, sexist backlash, shared world, the French erotic model, the law of the brute, the party line, Tristan and Isolde, tunnel vision, uncalled for remarks, Upper Bohemia, what women want, women sharing a secret, women’s assertiveness, women’s self-definition, writers at cafes | Leave a comment

Beatrice in Modern Gear

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Abigail

Beatrice in Modern Gear “Thou “who, to bring my soul to Paradise, Didst leave the imprint of thy steps in hell …” So wrote Dante of Beatrice at the end of his Divine Comedy. “The eternal feminine leads us above.” … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, chivalry, Christianity, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, courage, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, eighteenth century, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, 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, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, medieval, memory, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, mysticism, ontology, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, political, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, Renaissance, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, 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, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 14th century, ancient v modern, Aristotelian worldview, Aristotle, bad faith, Beatrice, breakfast with philosophers, chivalry, contemporary novel, courtly love, Dante’s Divine Comedy, deathbed communication, deathbed vision, delusional attachments, delusive ideals, disenchantment, disillusionment, enabling, feminist worldview, Goethe's Faust, good advice, idealization of woman, inauthenticity, Inner world vs external world, intelligible world, Kipling’s Kim, love’s power, mechanistic view of nature, medieval poet, medieval politics, mind/body problem, modern physics, modern psychology, Modernity, noble ideals, outdated chivalry, primary v secondary qualities, purposive worldview, randomness in physics, sacrificial love, Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, Sartre’s cafe scene, saving one’s beloved, saving souls, scientific outlook, self-sacrifice, subjective v objective, teleology, the eternal feminine, the feminine ideal, therapeutic outlook, universal genius, your place or mine | Leave a comment

My Worst Birthday

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Abigail

My Worst Birthday If we hadn’t begun it the evening before, it would have been even more disastrous. But I was scheduled to have an author photo taken by a professional photographer who does those things, and my dread of … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, action, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, heroes, hidden God, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, idolatry, institutional power, life and death struggle, literature, love, masculinity, memoir, memory, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, mysticism, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, political movements, politics of ideas, power, presence, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, secular, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, 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 Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", acts of God, Authenticity, author photo, authorial assignments, bad attitudes, birthday, birthday dinner, caring friends, childhood best friends, compatibility, compatible marriage, country gospel, disciplined callings, disciplined lives, earned miracles, emergency cancellations, expectations, finding the silver lining, French restaurant, frightening consequences, frustrating consequences, frustration, genuine friendships, good attitudes, gospel hymn, happy birthday, happy marriage, health imperative, imagined expectations, inauthenticity, inclement weather, inspiration, Just A Closer Walk With Thee, knee injury, light at the end of the tunnel, living for distraction, looking on the sunny side, lost footing, lowered expectations, Marriage, miracles, motels booked, motels dark, muffled inspiration, neuropathy, neuropathy treatments, Nor'easter, not settling for less, noticing the helps, photo phobia, power outage, prayer guidance, prestige and status, professional photographer, projected plans, projecting worst case, projection, real friends, romantic delusions, romantic hopes, Romantic Love, search for shelter, settling for less, significant other, sincerity, sincerity overrated, slough of despond, speaking enagements, staying in the present, the camera doesn't lie, the luck of the draw, the marriage lottery, the writing rationale, time-servers, true love, trust, trusting the helps, trying to pray, unaffected friendship, unforseen setbacks, variety in friends, wellness imperative, worst birthday, worst case scenario, worthwhile lives | 7 Comments

Saints, Lovers and Writers

Posted on December 27, 2016 by Abigail

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 Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", academic press, beautiful movie stars, biblical couples, biblical women, book contract, braving ridicule, canonization, Catholic saints, Catholicism, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterly's Lover", divine-human partnership, editors, Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls", eros, fight for truth, Gandhi, great lover, greatness in women, heroes of the spirit, heroic wives, Hindu, Hinduism, holiness, human and divine eros, inauthenticity, Ingrid Bergman's Joan of Arc, intellectual courage, intercession, intimacy, Jennifer Jones's Song of Bernadette, lapsed Catholics, Lord Byron's "Don Juan", man behind the curtain, marginalization, mental fight, miracle cure, miracles at Lourdes, peasant girls, phoniness, pilgrimage, pilgrims, prayer, purity, Rachel in Genesis, religion of Israel, reprinting, ridicule, Saint Bernadette Soubirous, sainthood, saints, Sarah in Genesis, seeing a vision, self-sacrifice, Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, the lame the halt and the blind, The Wizard of Oz, truthfulness, young girls | Leave a comment

“Thankfulness”

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Abigail

Posted in academe, action, alienation, culture, desire, erotic life, faith, friendship, guilt and innocence, history, ideology, philosophy, psychology | Tagged anger, bad faith, blessings, candor, collective community, Committee of Public Safety, consensus, convenant, decorum, dissent, Foucault, French Revolution, gratitude, Hebrew Scripture, homophobia, honesty, ideality, inauthenticity, insensitivity, Islamophobia, Israel, kibbutz, Leviticus, Mount Sinai, personal sincerity, politeness, Political Corrrectness, popularity, prayer, racism, ritual, sacrifice, sexism, Thanksgiving, The Archaeological Method, The Terror, Thought Crimes, Torah Study, unity | 2 Comments

Tag Archives: inauthenticity

“Thankfulness”

“Thankfulness”

“Thankfulness”

Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column

Recent Posts