Tag Archives: Manhattan
It’s August and My Shrink is in the Hamptons!
It’s August and My Shrink is in the Hamptons! There was a time in Manhattan when virtually everyone I knew was in Freud-based therapy. So people would have trouble getting through August, because that was when their shrinks were vacationing … Continue reading
Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, books, bureaucracy, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Male Power, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, nineteenth-century, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sexuality, 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, Time, twentieth century, victimhood, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "Philosophic Foundations of Feminism", August in Manhattan, bad arguments, counterculture, do your own thing, Dora and Freud, Edward Erwin, Freud and women, Freud-based therapy, Freud’s “Dora: An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria”, Freud’s case studies, Freud’s life, Freudian diagnosis, hysteria, life validation, Manhattan, nonjudgmental, Norman Lebrecht’s “Genius and Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World 1847-1947”, philosophical assumptions, philosophy at Stony Brook, poetic verdict, psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic cures, quack cures, quackery, SUNY at Stony Brook, the “Wolf Man”, the Hamptons
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Léo
Léo A few days ago I took a trip to Manhattan, formerly my home town, to visit old friends. One friend was Laurin Raikin, a founder of NYU’s Gallatin Division. We’ve known each other for many years and among the … Continue reading
Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, Childhood, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Films, 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, Jews, Judaism, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Mysticism, non-violence, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, relationships, Religion, Renaissance, Roles, Romance, Romanticism, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Social Conventions, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "Fiddler on the Roof", academic celebration, aesthetics, anonymous gift, anti-clerical, anti-clerical Spaniard, art history, benefactor, books on kabbalah, Brandeis University, Brazilian cafe, Catalan style, Catalonia, celebratory weekend, challah, City of Lights, communal prayer, cosmopolitan, deceptive evil, downtown Manhattan, dream of one's death, epic story, evil doers, existential choice, expensive concert, Fine art, foster father, free thinker, Friday night candles, godfather/godchild, Gruenewald "Crucifixion", handsome youth, Henri Bergson, Henri Foçillon, Jewish mysticism, last rites, Laurin Raikin, leading revolutionary, Leo Bronstein's Kabbalah and Art, Leon Trotsky, leukemia, Lower Manhattan, male friendship, Manhattan, meaningful mystery, meaningful story, men friends, moral rank, mortal illness, motorcycle accident, mystery, Narcis Serradel I Pascual, New York Public Library, nom de guerre, nonjudgmental, NYU Gallatin Division, objectivity, old Jew, Paris in the '20s, Paris in the '30s, philosophy, philosophy of art, poor Jews, precognitive dream, professors of the Sorbonne, Russian revolution, sabbath wine, seductive evil, Shabbos, shtibl, spontaneous remission, students at Brandeis, tenderness, the Sabbath, true story, undeceived, unhappy love affair, University of Paris, unseduced
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The Blame Game
The Blame Game We don’t start life with a clean slate. Childhood is the time we spend figuring out what kind of a hand of cards we’ve been dealt and how to start playing it. What happens to us – … Continue reading
Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Childhood, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, eighteenth century, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, hegemony, Heroes, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mysticism, nineteenth-century, novels, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Time, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged appeals to fairness, black leotard, blaming the victim, cartoon, cat calls, childhood, civil rights movement, class bias, clean slate, contradictions in capitalism, coquetry, cultural bias, despising women, documentary film, dodging blame, end of class struggle, end of history, enemy of the people, exploiting women, feminist movement, film footage, gayborhood, going viral, group identity, group preferences, guillotine, hand-to-hand combat, hanging out, hitch-hiking, idealizing women, indignant outcry, intersectionality, involuntary pregnancy, Les Tricoteuses, lynch mob, Manhattan, mob rule, moral rank, Neo-Marxism, New York City, off-Broadway comedy, people of color, persecution of feminists, protecting identity, racist film, reality TV, Reign of Terror, Robespierre, romantic truth, safe space, second wave feminism, self-defense, skin in the game, social asymmetry, social conscience, social experiment, social identity, social inequality, strategy for women, street mores, street people, tabula rasa, the blame game, the dance of life, the game of life, the hand we're dealt, the internationale, the knitting women, the male animal, the oppressed, the weaker sex, the wretched of the earth, thought police, victim competition, victims status, white people, wolf whistles, women as losers, women asking for it, women's rights, women's vulnerability, working class solidarity
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Is the Bible True?
Is the Bible True? Two questions: Why should any educated person care? Whaddya mean by “true”? Who could care? Of course, people whose identities (sense of who they are) are bound up with particular views about the Bible will care … Continue reading
Posted in Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, Childhood, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Faith, Fashion, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, nineteenth-century, Past and Future, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, scientism, self-deception, Sex Appeal, 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, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged allegorical reading, Bible, Bible in Western Culture, biblical battle plans, biblical inconsistencies, biblical influence, Biblical literalism, biblical warrant, Book of Judges, Book of Numbers, British Army, Catholic identity, death bed consolation, Divine actor, Divine Author, Divine command, documentary hypothesis, empirical warrant, Eric Voegelin's Israel and Revelation, ethnic identity, Greco-Roman civilization, Hebrew Scripture, higher criticism, hillbilly gospel, Hindu temple, Israel Defense Force, J E P and D, Japanese flower arrangement, Japanese tea room, Jewish identity, Jewish miracle, Jewish scholar, Jewish theologians, Jon Levinson's Creation and The Persistence of Evil, Jonah and the whale, Julius Wellhausen, Manhattan, meditative state, Michael Walzer's In God's Shadow: Politics in the Hebrew Bible, miracle of the quail, moral truth, Moses as author, New Testament, Ninevites, Numbers 11, Old Testament, pagan civilization, Pentateuch, personal identity, philosophy, philosophy as pagan, prophecy, Protestant identity, psalms as consolation, Psalms of David, rabbinic view, religious identity, religious wars, Robert Alter, spiritual practice, supernatural v natural, symbolic reading, symbolic truth, tea ceremony, The Covenant, Torah, Toraya, world civilization, world of action
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Political Correctness and Sex Appeal
Political Correctness and Sex Appeal These would seem to be unrelated topics. But not in my world. First, about this Political Correctness mania. It is starting to act like a cumulonimbus cloud, soaked in its own heavy humidity, making us … Continue reading
Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Art, Autonomy, Chivalry, Cities, Class, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courtship, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Hegel, History, history of ideas, ID, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master, Modernism, nineteenth-century, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, Power, Psychology, Public Intellectual, Race, Reductionism, relationships, 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, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "A Tale of Two Cities", "Absolute Freedom and Terror", appeasement, argument, bullies, Charles Dickens, city kids, city life, dating game, dialogue, enemy of the people, erotic strategies, Estates General 1789, feminine strategy, French Revolution, G.W.F. Hegel, guillotine, guilt trips, identity, influence, Jean Jacques Rousseau, losers, Manhattan, manipulation, monologue, national action committee, National Assembly, PC, political correctness, political policy, politics of ideas, radicalism, radicals, religious identity, Rousseau's "The Social Contract", sex appeal, sexual losers, status, temple membership, the "general will", The Left, The Phenomenology of Mind, thought control, thought police, wallflowers, winning arguments
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“Blue Jeans”
“Blue Jeans” I may be wrong, but it’s my sincere belief that I was the first woman north of Greenwich Village to put on blue jeans for daily wear in Manhattan. At least, when I began the practice, it was … Continue reading
Posted in Class, Cool, Culture, Fashion, Femininity, Gender Balance, History, Psychology, Roles, Social Conventions
Tagged America, autonomy, beauty salon, blue jeans, California, canvas cloth, ceremony, Civil War, Civilization: The West and the Rest, clothes, democratic values, designer jeans, economics, formality, freedom, gender performance, gold rush, Greenwich Village, high fashion, informality, jacob Davis, jeans, Levi Strauss, Manhattan, New York City, Niall Ferguson, sari, sex appeal, Soviet regime, status, strolling, The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, Union, urban protocol, USSR, work pants, young Russians
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“Courage”
“Courage” Courage, Plato said, is knowing what ought to scare you, and what ought not to. What Plato said reminds me of the time I was driving home from the JFK airport in a rainstorm so ferocious that one passed … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, life and death struggle, Psychology, Social Conventions
Tagged blackout, courage, guidance, guts, handicaps, hazardous driving, hero, hitchhiking, JFK airport, male predators, Manhattan, New York City, pay phones, Plato, Port Authority, power failure, prayer, Rotary Club, street smarts, vulgarity, West Orange, wisdom
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