Tag Archives: political correctness

One of a Kind

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Abigail

David Stove was a philosopher of the not-cut-to pattern kind. (Is that a kind? Just how many are there?) For example, he did not hesitate to kick the seemingly unassailable Charles Darwin in the shins for a train of errors … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, agnosticism, alienation, anthropology, appreciation, art of living, atheism, authenticity, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, chivalry, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, eighteenth century, eternity, ethics, ethnicity, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, fatherhood, female power, femininity, feminism, filial piety, 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, journalism, law, 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, mortality, Nihilism, nineteenth-century, non-violence, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, poetry, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, power games, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, remembrance, repairing the culture, roles, romanticism, science, scientism, secular, self-deception, 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, Truth, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal’s A Good Look at Evil, Abigail L. Rosenthal’s Getting Past Marx and Freud, academic history, academic philosophy, academic politics, academic rivalry, Analytic philosophy, Anti-Utopianism, atheism and suicide, Australian academe, Australian politics, Bill Lycan, candid correspondence, capsizing an orderly life, Charles Darwin, colleagues and conformism, commonsensical philosopher, concealing a sensitive soul, conservatism and liberalism, Continental philosophy, crisis overpowering coping strategies, cultural assumptions, Darwin and human motivation, Darwin’s theoretical shortcomings, David Armstrong, David Hume, David Stove, David Stove Archive, David Stove’s Darwinian Fairytales: Selfish Genes Errors of Heredity and Other Fables of Evolution, dramatic life change, Edgar Allan Poe, empiricism, eulogy, ex-husbands, Feminism, first husband, gentlemanliness and politics, healthy common sense, ideology and academe, idols of the tribe, intellectual debts, John Bacon, kangaroos and black swans, Marxism, meritocracy, methodological empiricism and metaphysical materialism, Michael Devitt, moderation as lifestyle, non-believer, nonconformist academic, nonconformist philosopher, nonconformist thinking, obituary and posthumous friendship, overpowering crisis, philosophical absurdism, philosophical atheist, philosophical competition, philosophical conversation, philosophical correspondence, philosophical erudition, philosophical gossip, philosophical guide, philosophical Humean, philosophical marriage, Philosophical Materialism, philosophical pen pals, philosophizing with style, philosophy at Sydney University, Poe’s The Raven, political correctness, prayer for suicide victim, private despair, protecting a sensitive soul, providential divorce, providential life-turn, providential marriage, received views, research fellow, right wing and left wing, Roger Kimball, sacred cow, sensitive soul, shocking life-crisis, social conformism, suicide and afterlife, suicide and choice, Sydney Australia, Sydney University Staff Club, Trad and Mod Philosophy Dept, traditional and modern philosophy, tragic crisis in an even-tempered life, trendy philosophy, tyranny of one’s peers, tyranny of public opinion, unexpected crisis, University of Sydney, unsung heroes | 3 Comments

“Thankfulness”

Posted on November 22, 2022 by Abigail

Abbie is unable to write a new column this week because she and her husband, Jerry Martin, are stuck in Denver, CO, where a succession of flights home have been canceled. She and Jerry were in Denver for a fascinating … Continue reading →

Posted in academe, action, alienation, cultural politics, culture, desire, erotic life, faith, friendship, guilt and innocence, history, ideology, philosophy, psychology | Tagged anger, bad faith, blessings, candor, collective community, Committee of Public Safety, consensus, covenant, decorum, dissent, Foucault, French Revolution, gratitude, Hebrew Scripture, homophobia, honesty, ideality, inauthenticity, insensitivity, Islamophobia, Israel, kibbutz, Leviticus, Mount Sinai, personal sincerity, politeness, political correctness, popularity, prayer, racism, ritual, sacrifice, sexism, Thanksgiving, The Archaeological Method, The Terror, Thought Crimes, Torah Study, unity | Leave a comment

Androgyny?

Posted on October 22, 2019 by Abigail

Androgyny? “The Lure of Androgyny” is the title of an article I just read. It reports that the trend to downplay biological differences between the sexes is now world-wide. This is different from giving women equal opportunity. More like: THERE’S … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art of living, autonomy, beauty, 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, femininity, feminism, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, immorality, institutional power, journalism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master/slave relation, medieval, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, motherhood, novels, oppression, past and future, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, 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, 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 actors and actresses, androgyny, anti-male prejudice, athletes, biological female, biological male, blue jeans, censorship, crude men, cultural change, Dante's Beatrice, debased men, defending honor, defending women’s honor, Emmanuel Levinas, entertainment fields, equal opportunity, female vulnerability, feminine security, fire fighting, firefighter rescue, French philosophy, Freudian prohibitions, gender as social construct, Hamlet, hatred of men, high fashion designers, idealizing women, level playing field, Levinas’s “And God Created Woman”, life or death situation, magazine article, make love like a man, male bashing, male gallantry, male protectiveness, male trustworthiness, marital partnership, marital protection, Marriage, Mary Eberstadt’s “The Lure of Androgyny”, masculine protection, misandry, misogyny, Ophelia, overcoming inhibitions, parental role model, policewoman, political correctness, pop music, pressures on men, prizes for acting, protective fathers, redemptress, relations between the sexes. human to human v man to woman, respect for women, Richard Lovelace’s “To Lucasta on Going to the Wars”, sexual revolution, sexual tact, single mother, targeting weakness, the arts, the eternal feminine, The New York Review of Books, the victimized woman, theatre awards, toxic masculinity, trendy article, trust, truth in sports, unisex, unisex bathrooms, unisex designers, unisex outfits, unisex sports, winning the race, women athletes, women firefighters, women in the military, women's liberation, women’s self-defense, Woodstock, worldwide trends | Leave a comment

Sex and Porn

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Abigail

Sex and Porn O boy! A hot topic! I bet I get a hundred million followers! Some years ago, a friend of mine, a well-known feminist writer, discovered that her psychiatrist husband was being unfaithful to her. Worse, his infidelity … Continue reading →

Posted in academe, action, alienation, art, autonomy, chivalry, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, history, history of ideas, id, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, institutional power, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master, mind control, nineteenth-century, oppression, philosophy, political, political movements, power, psychology, relationships, roles, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, slave, social conventions, sociobiology, 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, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a life of one's own, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Getting Past Marx and Freud", addiction, animality, art of being a woman, Arthur Schopenhauer, being with-it, betrayal, book reviews, Charles Darwin, contemporary mores, Darwin’s Origin of the Species, decadence, divorce, enforcing consensus, erotic expectations, Friedrich Nietzsche, German Romanticism, getting hooked, group pressure, historical romance novels, human motivation, human nature, hypnotic therapy, ID, infidelity, inhibitions, Intellectual fashion, libido, Linda Tarazi’s Under the Inquisition: an experience relived, losing inhibitions, medical malpractice, Nancy Jo Sales’ American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers, obsession, past life regression, past life therapy, past lives, peer pressure, Peggy Orenstein’s Girls and Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape, pleasure, political correctness, pornography, post modernism, primal aims, prudish, psychiatric malpractice, reductionism, repression, reviewers, romance novels, settled science, sex, Sexuality, sociobiology, soft porn, Spanish Inquisition, species aims, the new normal, The New York Review of Books, the unconscious, theory-driven, traditionalism, trauma, trendiness, uptight, will-to-life, will-to-power, woman’s wisdom, Zoe Heller | Leave a comment

“God and Biography”

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Abigail

“God and Biography” When my journal entry doesn’t give me answers to the questions of my day, I sometimes ask myself: What would it have been like for me to live the same events recorded here, if there were no … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, childhood, Christianity, class, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, mortality, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, power, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, violence, war, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Atheism, Bible, biographical subjects, biography, boarding school, British prep school, British public school, bullies, cancer, Christopher Hitchens, classical historians, clerical opinion, corrupted intellect, covenant, covenantal task, crony capitalist, cutting words, Daniel Dennett, deathbed conversion, debating skill, depravity, deserved tributes, evangelical Christians, fame, fashionable dodge, fashionable opinion, friendship, God, God and Israel, God's existence, gossip, grace of spirit, History, homophobe, horizontal explanation, intellectual fashions, intelligent hope, irresponsible gossip, Islamophobe, King James version, Larry Alex Taunton, Larry Taunton's The Faith of Christopher Hitchens, literary celebrities, literary talent, love of words, Loyalty, medicine for the soul, memoir, moral analysis, moral description, moral interpretation, off the record, Ontology, political correctness, psychoanalytic explanation, public atheism, public debate, public opinion, rabbis, racist, received opinion, religious authorities, Richard Dawkins, Roman empire, Sam Harris, secular history, secular humanism, self-understanding, sexist, sinners, social taboos, spiritual implications, spirituality, spritual interpretation, Tacitus, temple newsletter, the Establishment clause, The Four Horsemen of New Atheism, The New Atheism, theism, theologians, tools of a biographer, truth, uncorrupted intellect, unmentionable questions, vertical explanation, women friends, words as weapons | 2 Comments

Political Correctness and Sex Appeal

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Abigail

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 the 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 | 2 Comments

“How to Pick Your Fights”

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Abigail

“How to Pick Your Fights” “I’ve been perfect,” said Ammon Hennacy, pacifist, anarchist and dedicated Platonic lover of Dorothy Day of the Catholic Worker movement. He had taken my arm as we walked the picket line together. “I’ve had to … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, autonomy, cities, class, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courtship, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, history, history of ideas, identity, ideology, idolatry, institutional power, Jews, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master, memoir, modernism, non-violence, peace, philosophy, political, political movements, power, psychology, 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 "hate speech", 36 righteous, absurdism, academic politics, action prompts, aggresor, Ammon Hennacy, Analytic philosophy, anarchist, Aristotle, base, Bronx, Bronx Borough President, Brooklyn College, Catholic Worker Movement, Chancellor of the City University, combat, conscience, consequential lies, countering lies, defamation, defender, Defenestration of Prague, disinformation, Dorothy Day, enemies, ethnic politics, falsification, fictions, glitter and gold, God's control, God's world, gossip, gotcha, Harvard, Herman Badillo, hitting the mark, honesty, intelligibility, lamed vovniks, Larry Summers, liberal arts university, lies, listening to your gut, malice, martial arts, Mayans, Michael Oren, Michael Oren's "Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide", Michelle Obama, nature and nurture, New York, noble, Obama, Oval Office, pacifist, pariah, perfect action, Platonic lover, political correctness, Prime Minister Netanyahu, profane, public education, Puerto Rican, rabbinic legend, realm of discourse, right action, sacred, seduction, slander, spiritual warfare, stigmatizing, still small voice, taboos, tactlessness, the power of words, theology, true love, truth | 4 Comments

Tag Archives: political correctness

“Thankfulness”

Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column

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