Tag Archives: philosopher
“Philosophy is Learning How to Die”
“Philosophy is Learning How to Die” Socrates said that about philosophy, in front of his grieving student/disciples, at the hour when he was to down the lethal hemlock served him by the jailer. Death was the sentence passed on him … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, art of living, books, cities, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, 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, martyrdom, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, non-violence, ontology, oppression, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, 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, status of women, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged anger, angst, anxiety, apprentices in philosophy, Athenian jury, beliefs falsified, cleaning closets, con man, consolations of philosophy, corruption, costly victory, deep calls to deep, dropping baggage, existentialist categories, frustration, gastrointestinal distress, healing wounds, hemlock, hurt, hydrotherapy, inherited baggage, Inner Spa, interiority and exteriority, internalizing insult, keeping what you need, learning how to die, letting go, life as adventure, love of truth, love of wisdom, minimalism, nobility, one-room apartment, outrage, philosopher, philosophy as a preparation for death, philosophy as academic discipline, philosophy as way of life, philosophy students, psyche and soma, righteous combat, risks of philosophy, self-renewal, sex harasser, sexual predator, simplify simplify, Socrates, somatization, thownness, traveling light, undiscovered countries, violation
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Competitive Friendships
Competitive Friendships When, as a young woman, I returned from a year in Paris with an affair to conceal (because that’s what you did about that sort of thing in those days) my women friends from high school and college … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, childhood, chivalry, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, institutional power, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, nineteenth-century, novels, past and future, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, 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, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "The Consolations of Philosophy: Hobbes's Secret; Spinoza's Way" by Henry M. Rosenthal; ed. Abigail L. Rosenthal, 19th century sage, academic party, Americans in Paris, assimilationism, Atheism, autobiographical story, “God is dead”, belief in God, bitch goddess, brass ring, brilliant career, broken friendship, companionship, confidants, conversion, cooling friendships, English culture, English Literature, father/daughter relationship, first love, friendship, Fulbright year, group think, Henry M. Rosenthal, inner conviction, Jewish defenses, Jewish identity, Jewish irony, life choice, Life in Culture: The Selected Letters of Lionel Trilling; ed. Adam Kirsch, Lionel Trilling, literary gifts, living at a depth, male friendship, man of God, marital sweepstakes, marriage market, missionary efforts, National Geographic films, only game in town, personal identity, personal pathway, personal transparency, philosopher, popularity, Public Intellectual, rabbinate, Ralph Waldo Emerson, rat race, secret affair, short story, social advantage, social convenience, social life, social wars, standing by your friends, Success, The Menorah Journal, the problematic of branding, theologian, Thomas Altizer, winners and losers, women friends, youthful promise
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Success in San Francisco
Success in San Francisco Jerry and I spent the last three days (plus two for travel) in San Francisco. The trip wasn’t exactly a willing one on my part because my spouse had talked me into giving a paper at … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, art of living, atheism, autonomy, Biblical God, Christianity, cities, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, mysticism, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, scientism, 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, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged academic conference, academic illusions, academic panel, academic retirement, apocalypse, breath control, Brooklyn College, colleagues, communism, control of pace, crumbled illusion, delusional systems, disliking publicity, disliking travel, dissenters, divine dimension, Downeast, eliminating dissent, enraged millennialism, Eric Voegelin, Eric Voegelin Society, escapism, esteem of colleagues, esteem of peers, Evil, EVS International Meeting, extremism, false escapes, false messiahs, fear of public speaking, gnostic movements, growth rate, Hannah Arendt, human uncertainty, idealogues, ideologies, invisibility, John Rawls' Theory of Justice, killing the messenger, liquidating dissenters, Maine, man-made gods, Millennial Experience, millennial movements, Name professorships, Nazi regime, Nazism, original position, panel discussion, philosopher, philosophic relevance, political dissenters, political thinker, posthumous glory, prayer, prayer guidance, presenting papers, public speaking, reductionism, revised reading list, San Francisco, sinking feeling, small town, the Hannah Arendt industry, the Holocaust, the human condition, the human predicament, totalitarian temptation, totalitarianism, totalitarians, travel, Voegelinians, wealth redistribution, woman philosopher
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Final Proofs
Final Proofs This week, amid a flurry of barely-caught typos, fonts of the wrong shade and misplaced style cues, Jerry, I, and his priceless crew of teammates finished going over the final set of proofs that go to the printer. … Continue reading
Posted in action, alienation, anthropology, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Bible, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, faith, femininity, feminism, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, heroes, hidden God, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, mortality, non-violence, ontology, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, political, power, psychology, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, seduction, sex appeal, sexuality, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twenty-first century, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged agnostic, agnosticism, Alexandria VA, answered prayer, answering the call, author, belief, Bible movies, couples, creation, Creator, Divine communication, Divine messenger, Divine Presence, Divine summons, doubt, ego needs, empirical evidence, evidence, Faith, Francis Thompson's The Hound of Heaven, getting married, getting to yes, God's audible voice, God's audible words, God's voice, God's words, higher ed organizations, human responsiveness, humility, identity, imagination, individuality, Jerry L. Martin's "God: an Autobiography as Told to a Philosopher", level-headedness, love, maintaining identity, marriage proposals, married life, newlyweds, ordinary life, ordinary world, philosopher, prayer, proofreading, proofs, prophet, protocol, publication, publication process, publishing, Q&A, quest, real life, reality check, receptivity, relationships, religion, Romantic Love, sacred, secularism, skepticism, spiritual growth, spiritual seekers, theism, Washington life, writers
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“Ambiguity”
“Ambiguity” If the current era were to gain a label, it might be called “The Age of Ambiguity.” Whether in self-praise or regret, there is wide agreement that nothing is clearly X or not-X. Rather, everything is a bit of … Continue reading
Posted in academe, culture, faith, history of ideas, philosophy, relationships, social conventions
Tagged Adin Steinsaltz, Ambiguity, angels, Arbitration, atheist, Being and Nothingness, complexity, contradiction, disambiguate, diversity, Fear and Trembling, French existentialism, G.W.F. Hegel, Jean-Paul Sartre, Kabbalah, leap of faith, muddling through, philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, The Phenomenology of Mind, The Thirteen Petaled Rose, Western films
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