Tag Archives: meaning what you say

The Price of Living One’s Philosophy

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Abigail

At our Torah Study class this week, we took up the concluding portion of the Book of Exodus. Mostly it deals with instructions for constructing the Mishkan (Tent of Meeting). That’s the portable temple housing the famous box (the Ark … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, 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, 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, motherhood, non-violence, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, science, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, 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, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged academic groupthink, academic politics, Arc of the Covenant, Attention Deficit Disorder, Authenticity, becoming a woman, being a woman, Book of Exodus, bridge of words, bridge to nowhere, bringing gifts to the Mishkan, competitive feminists, cultural impact, defending one’s worldview, delusive victories, demystifying philosophic terms, discussion leader, early days in the feminist movement, early experiences in the feminist movement, engineering with words, exploitive relationships, femininity as social construct, feminism and philosophy, feminist establishment, feminist theory, from nowhere to nowhere, groupthink, harmful victories, healing through our stories, influence of philosophy, intellectual credibility, Intellectual fashion, intellectual trends, inverting social reality, ivory tower philosophy, Jacques Derrida, language of philosophy, life lessons in novels, living inside one’s worldview, living one’s philosophy, manipulative victims, mariage de raison, marriage of reason, meaning what you say, Mishkan, not the official story, nothing outside the text, novels and women, one size fits all, opportunistic marriage, overcoming disabilities, Paris garbage strike and the postmoderns, Parisian postmoderns, Park Ave penthouse feminists, pas de hors-texte, philosophical jargon, philosophy and history, playing the victim card, portable temple, pulling moral rank, Pyrrhic verbal victories, Rabbi Sigal Brier, real life analogies to Biblical stories, revolutions and hypocrisy, sacred femininity, sacrificial gift, saying what you mean, sexual stereotyping, sincerity and philosophy, sisterhood is powerful, speaking philosophically, straight talking, straight talking in academe, supportive husband, teaching inner city kids, Ten Commandments, Tent of Meeting, the influence of philosophers, the last shall be first, the philosopher and the man on horseback, the philosophic establishment, the philosophic life, Torah Study, trading up, true stories that heal, two stone tablets, unbalanced marriage, universal claims about men and women, utopian slogans, verbal tour de force, verbal triumphs, view from nowhere, woman as social construct, woman’s destiny, woman’s lot, women against women, women’s competitiveness, women’s friendships, women’s liberation, write only what you have lived, yin and yang | Leave a comment

Loving Thyself

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Abigail

Sometimes the chief happenings of one’s life occur in the form of inward shifts. That’s been true of me lately. Late Saturday night, we returned from five days of neuropathy treatments in California. In the evenings, we dined with some … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, bigotry, books, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, non-violence, novels, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, 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, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged achieving social harmony, allegedly free, anti-Jewish vulgarity, award for participating, bruised self-worth, can't lose setup, challenge to integrity, Chillul hashem, choice in boyfriends, class and classlessness, countering social bigotry, defending coreligionists, defending fellow victims, demeaning epithets, demeaning language, desecrating the Name, dialectical exploration, dialectically serious, dilemmas of politeness, escapism, feeling of self-worth, fight for one's footing, fight for one's place in the world, getting it right in retrospect, giving up prematurely, handling social combat, historical Jesus, holding one's own, holding one's own socially, inner life, insincere capitulation, insincere harmony, inward change, Jerry Martin's God: An Autobiography as told to a philosopher, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the man, Jesus's love, Jesus's unfiltered love, Jewish self-protection, l'esprit de l'escalier, Loma Linda clinic, losing the argument but winning the truth, love they neighbor as thyself, loving one's self, loving thyself, loving truth, loving unreservedly, Mark Bussell, meaning what you say, neuropathy treatment, New Orleans, no win situation, painful memories, premature peacemaking, replaying memories, replaying social blunders, rigged competition, risks for truth, rodeo events, saying what you mean, search for truth, self deprecation as defensive, self insult as defense, self love, self love as an hypothesis, self love in social life, self-approval, self-esteem, sincerity vs pretense, smoothing things over, social double binds, social expertise, social ineptitude, social life as war, social missteps, social putdowns, social skills, spoiling the party, styles of being Jewish, tension of disagreement, the embarrassing boyfriend, the humanity of Jesus, truth inadequately defended, truth seeking argument, unqualified love, what I should have said | Leave a comment

Acting in Real Time

Posted on December 27, 2022 by Abigail

Of all the forms of worship I know about, Biblical religion is the one most wedded to chronology. It carries the message that the action called for cannot be postponed. It must be done now. There is a concomitant duty … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, books, bureaucracy, Childhood, Cities, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, 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, idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romanticism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, 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, Utopia, victimhood, victims, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 1776 vote on Independence, academic excellence, acting in real time, Biblical religion, Brooklyn College, Caesar A. Rodney, chronological religion, Churchill's speeches, college administration, college policy, deadlines, dealing with tyrants, Declaration of Independence, documentary evidence, eloquence in a leader, fate of nations, forgetting and remembering, God in the Sistine Chapel, grandfather looks like God, historical crisis, imprinting memory, improving curriculum, Iron Law of the Bully, Jeremy Kagan's The Nature And Pursuit of Truth in Different Cultural Contexts in Strauss Spinoza & Sinai: ed Bloom Goldstein & Student, keeping commitments, keeping national trust, Lincoln's speeches, living in the now, manipulative speeches, meaning what you say, Michaelangelo's God, mistrusting heroes, moral timeliness, now of action, oddities of memory, Rav Tsair, refusal to personalize, religion on the timeline, representing one's nation, Second Continental Congress, sense of history, spoken with intention, Talmudic view of language, the right words, this ironical age, urgent action, what has to be said, words and reality, words and things, Zelensky's address to Congress | Leave a comment

For the Love of Wisdom

Posted on June 22, 2021 by Abigail

For the Love of Wisdom When I first began my graduate studies in philosophy, I’d be told – in so many words as well as body language – that any residual hopes of finding wisdom in this field should be … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, books, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Institutional Power, Law, Literature, Love, Masculinity, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, motherhood, Ontology, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a life of one's own, academic philosophy, almost a saint, ancient Athens, ancient philosophic schools, ancient philosophy, Anglo-American Philosophy, believing in nothing, Biblical historicity, biblical patriarch, Brandeis University, brilliant woman, chief rabbi, classical ideal, classical schools, classical studies, comemorating forebearers, Continental philosophy, detecting illusions, dialectic, Downeast attitudes, escape velocity, Freudian psychoanalysis, Henry M. Rosenthal, History of Philosophy, honoring one's father and mother, idealizations, illusions and projections, Leo Bronstein, love of wisdom, meaning what you say, meditative practice, Mother, multiply cultured, nihilism, Odessa, painful aspirations, pedagogic Q+A, personal influence, philosophic dialogue, philosophic friendship, philosophic illusions, philosophic influence, philosophically sophisticated, philosophy, philosophy degrees, Pierre Hadot's What Is Ancient Philosophy?, psychic reconfiguring, psychoanalytic cures, Rav Tsair, spiritual insight, teaching tools, verbal contests, wisdom, words and lives aligned | Leave a comment

The Big City and Me

Posted on March 26, 2019 by Abigail

The Big City and Me I went to New York for an overnight last Thursday. This trip had been postponed for at least a year, during which I was dealing with one huge difficulty after another. Through the times and … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, books, Childhood, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, motherhood, Mysticism, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romantic Love, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, 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, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victims, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 20th century critic, 51st Street, a writer’s honor, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", Alice’s Teacup, authenticity and success, Barbara Fisher, Barnard College, biography, Cafe Sabarsky, catching spies, Columbia University class of 1925, con artist, conservationists, Diana Trilling, easy mark, embezzeler, FBI raid, feminist activists, FGM, formative experiences, Frank and Ada Graham, friend of the arts, German U-boats, German/Austrian 20th century art museum, Henry M. Rosenthal, hollow words, honor killing, ill-gotten gains, integrity, Laurin Raiken, Leo Bronstein, life savings, Lionel and Henry, Lionel Trilling, Maine people, male friendship, meaning what you say, Meyer Schapiro, mitzvah, mystically sensitive, Nazi spy, Nazi spy ring, Neue Gallerie, New York City, New York in World War II, NYU Gallatin Division, old friends, Phyllis Chesler, Phyllis Chesler’s A Politically Incorrect Feminist: Creating a Movement with Bitches Lunatics Dykes Prodigies Warriors and Wonder Women, Phyllis Chesler’s The New Anti-Semitism, political courage, power street, Public Intellectual, reunions, righteous action, saving the earth, sense of place, short wave radio, sisterhood, street smarts, teacher/student relation, The Big City, The Country Mouse and the City Mouse, U-boats off New York, Viennese café, you can go home again, you can’t take it with you | 2 Comments

“Evil is Really Not Banal”

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Abigail

“Evil is Really Not Banal” This past week we’ve been in California, where I’ve resumed my treatments for neuropathy at the Loma Linda hospital. The other event of the week, salient for me, was a talk at the Claremont School … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, Biblical God, books, bureaucracy, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, dialectic, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Martyrdom, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, secular, Seduction, self-deception, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, 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, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", audience Q&A, author/publisher relation, “The Rake’s Progress”, banality of evil, behaviorism, Bernard Harrison’s Blaming the Jews: The Persistence of a Delusion, blaming the Jews, book endorsements, book reviewers, book reviews, bureaucratic mindset, Claremont School of Theology, Coincidences, conscious evil, diabolical cunning, Evil, evil personified, excusing the Holocaust, explaining evil, fiction and real life, fighting the good fight, firming resolve, futile counterargument, groupthink, guidance from above, Hannah Arendt, Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, Holocaust research, illustrations from life, knee fracture, Loma Linda Hospital, meaning what you say, moral coverup, Nazi arguments, Nazi canards, Nazi materials, Nazi talking points, neuropathy treatments, publishing snafus, speaker event, synchronicities, the Holocaust, the seducer, theologians, traps of argument, truth stranger than fiction, white-washing evil, wolf in sheep’s clothing | 11 Comments

How Can I Tell If It’s God?

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Abigail

How Can I Tell If It’s God? I have Christian friends who tell me that a moment came in their experience when “everything changed.” They “met the living God.” Another friend, Jewish, who’s pretty well versed in Yoga, recently reported … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, Childhood, Christianity, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, 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, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Mysticism, nineteenth-century, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romantic Love, 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, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", Atheism, Authenticity, becoming oneself, Bible movies, burning bush, childhood religious training, Christians, coincidence, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, entering bliss, Epistemology, finding one's identity, founder of Modern Philosophy, Freudian view, gender of God, Hegelian view, Jesus in the movies, Jewish miracle, Jewish view, King James version, Kumbhaka, life saga, losing faith, making sense, meaning what you say, meeting God, Method of Doubt, miracle, miracle or coincidence, Moses in the movies, Patajali’s Yoga Sutras, providence, providential intervention, Real Voice, Rene Descartes, self-discovery, Spinozistic view, suspension of breath, theory of doubt, theory of knowledge, turning Godward, voice of God, weekly journals, yoga meditation | 2 Comments

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