Tag Archives: James Baldwin

Why Choose the Jews?

It feels like forever – so changed are the times! – but it’s only been two days at this writing. Starting in the early hours of October 7, Hamas operatives surprised and overwhelmed Israeli surveillance and defenses at the Gaza … Continue reading

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, 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, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, female power, femininity, feminism, 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, 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, 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, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, 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, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

 Our Twentieth Wedding Anniversary

 Our Twentieth Wedding Anniversary Today, the twentieth of January, is the actual day of our 20th wedding anniversary, though we had our celebratory dinner last Friday, after seeing the James Baldwin movie, “If Beale Street Could Talk.” At the restaurant, … Continue reading

Posted in academe, action, anthropology, art of living, beauty, Biblical God, books, chivalry, cities, class, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, legal responsibility, literature, love, masculinity, memoir, memory, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, novels, ontology, past and future, philosophy, political, political movements, politics of ideas, power, presence, promissory notes, psychology, public intellectual, race, reading, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, secular, sex appeal, sexuality, 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, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“A Forgotten Detour”

“A Forgotten Detour” As I finished the chapter of Confessions of a Young Philosopher that’s about my years as a graduate student at the Columbia University and Penn State departments of philosophy, a missing piece of that time suddenly reappeared, … Continue reading

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bureaucracy, chivalry, 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, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, past and future, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, postmodernism, power, presence, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, relationships, religion, roles, romance, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, social climbing, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Submission”

James Baldwin wrote a novel, Giovanni’s Room, ostensibly about the coming out of a gay man and how he disappoints the woman in his life.  Baldwin said the book was really about “the crucial lack of sexual authority in the … Continue reading

Posted in academe, femininity, feminism, gender balance, literature, masculinity, political, race, sexuality | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments