Tag Archives: Plato
Sex, Honor and Philosophy
Plato wrote a dialogue, The Symposium, on this very topic. The setting is a drinking party held to celebrate the victory of one of the guests in a poetry contest. They go round the circle, each guest standing up to give a speech on the Great Question of the evening: What is love? Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, autonomy, beauty, chivalry, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, 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, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master/slave relation, medieval, memoir, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, oppression, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, radicalism, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, 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, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "Candid Camera", Alcibiades, ancient drinking party, ancient Greeks, austerity, blacklisting, breaking eggs, Camelot, celibacy, Diotima, disproportionate punishment, eros, eros and biology, eros and health, eros and memory, eros and politics, eros and the beautiful, eros and the good, eros of ambition, eros of social life, erotic disempowerment, erotic empowerment, erotic motives, erotic sin, holier-than-thou, injured pride, love object, love of wisdom, man/woman love, musicals, Parisian café, philosophic friendship, Plato, Plato's dialogues, Plato’s Symposium, pleasure, poetry contest, preserving femininity, preserving masculinity, professional death, professional honor, reparations, romantic speeches, Russian soul, safe space, same-sex love, seclusion, seduction, self-protection, sex and dominance, sex and revenge, sexual harassment, social change, soulmate, The Academy, the man/woman ratio, the mating game, the secret of love, The Symposium, transcendent perfection, virtue signaling, What is love?
Leave a comment
“The Politics of Ideas”
“The Politics of Ideas” They say you are what you eat, but it’s been my experience that you are what you believe. People live and die for the ideas they believe to be true. What is more, people dress, work … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, Christianity, cities, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, Hegel, heroes, hidden God, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immortality, institutional power, Jews, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, medieval, Messianic Age, mind control, modernism, mortality, mysticism, non-violence, ontology, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political, political movements, power, propaganda, psychology, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, seduction, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twenty-first century, Utopia, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged 586 B.C., ancient history, anger, anomaly, anti-semitism, aporia, apostles, Apostles Peter and James, archaeology, arguing to find the truth, arguing to win, argument, belief systems, beliefs, Brooklyn College, Christendom, Christian Fathers, Christian Jewish rapportchement, Christians, circumcision, competition for converts, counter-example, country gospel, damnation, destruction of The Temple, dialectic, diversity, Early Christianity, elites, Ethics, evangelical Christians, evil inclination, Feminism, feminist politics, feminist slogans, First Temple, freedom, Gentiles, good inclination, History, ideas, ideology, Institutional Power, institutional practice, integrity, inter-religious dialogue, Jesus, Jewish antiquity, Jewish authorities, Jews, John G. Gager's "Who Made Early Christianity: The Jewish Lives of the Apostle Paul", Judaica, Judaism, liberation, life of ideas, Mind Control, missionary, models, morals, mores, multi-culturalism, New Yorkers, opinion shapers, original sin, paradigms, personal conduct, philosophy professor, Plato, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton University, principles, refutation, religious politics, resentment, salvation, search for truth, shared assumptions, sinners, social boundries, social conduct, social construct, social control, social penalties, social practice, Socrates, Socratic dialogues, sophisticates, steles, supersessionism, synagogue donors, synagogue membership, synagogues in the ancient world, The Book of Acts, The Covenant, The Crucifixion, the Law, The Passion of Christ, the rift between Christians and Jews, the Righteous Gentile, theology, thought police, thought world, tragic history, truth, world views, wrongheadedness, You are what you believe, You are what you eat
5 Comments
“Confessions of a Young Philosopher”
“Confessions of a Young Philosopher” These days I am bringing to final form a new book titled, Confessions of a Young Philosopher. So what’s the “confession” part? And what’s the “philosopher” part? Why do I give the book that name? … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, art, autonomy, chivalry, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courtship, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, Hegel, history, history of ideas, identity, ideology, institutional power, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master, memoir, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political, political movements, power, psychology, relationships, roles, seduction, sex appeal, sexuality, slave, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, time, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged accusers, apology, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Ayaan Hirsi Ali "Nomad", Azar Nafisi, Azar Nafisi "Reading Lolita in Tehran", biblical persons, biblical time, change agents, Christian Europe, classical era, concubines, confession, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, counter-examples, crimes, defense, dissent, embodied ideas, evidence, Feminism, Greco-Roman antiquity, Hegel "Reason in History", identity, Latin civilization, living dialectically, living your truth, Manicheanism, menacing, misdeeds, missteps, Mona Eltahawy, Mona Eltahawy "Headscarves and Hymens", Muslim women, Neo-Platonism, Noni Darwish, Noni Darwish "Now They Call Me Infidel", paradigm, persona, Plato, Plato "The Apology", Qanta Ahmed, Qanta Ahmed "In The Land of Invisible Women", Rafia Zakaria, Rafia Zakaria "The Upstairs Wife", repression, Roman circuses, secrets, self-transformation, social mask, social risk, spiritual autobiography, St. Augustine, St. Augustine "Confessions", truth and falsity, truth seeker, woman philosopher, women heroes, women's aculturation, world-historical figures
2 Comments
“Men!”
“Men!” For some years I had a brilliant friend, male, with whom I used to talk far into the night about the most sublime and transcendent matters. We were sufficiently drawn to one another to be lovers, other colleagues … Continue reading
Posted in academe, art, culture, desire, erotic life, femininity, friendship, gender balance, masculinity, relationships, spirituality, the problematic of woman
Tagged character, colleagues, con-artistry, coquetry, desire, fate, flattery, friend, ideal, ideality, intention, intuition, lovers, man/woman friendships, Masculinity, money, moral fragility, morality, philosophy, Plato, platonic relationships, repentance, rip off, sincerity, sublime, transcendent conversation
Leave a comment
