Tag Archives: Simone de Beauvoir

Bad Faith at Sartre’s Cafe

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Abigail

Bad Faith at Sartre’s Café It may be of interest to note that post-World War II feminism (the “second wave”) was written-into-being by Simone de Beauvoir, a gifted French philosopher, in The Second Sex (1949). It was conscientiously researched and … Continue reading →

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Can a Philosopher Be a Novelist?

Posted on August 11, 2020 by Abigail

Can a Philosopher Be a Novelist? These days I’ve been working on a paper to be delivered (in no more than 15 minutes) at the September (virtual) Meetings of the Eric Voegelin Society. Cutting it down while still retaining meaningful … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, books, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, scientism, 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, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 17th-century philosopher, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", abstract clarity, academic ambition, academic career, academic paper, Albert Camus, Benedict de Spinoza, book teaser, Bryan Magee’s Men of Ideas: Some Creators of Contemporary Philosophy, careerism, collegial competitiveness, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, empirical confirmation, Eric Voegelin Society, excommunicated Jew, fiction and nonfiction, fictional characters, French Existentialists, Iris Murdoch, Jean-Paul Sartre, lens-grinder of Amsterdam, literary gifts, literary power, mathematical physics, narrative ambiguity, novels as propaganda, philosopher novelist, philosophic competition, philosophic writing, philosophical literature, philosophical midwife, philosophical novels, postulates, robotic fiction, Sartre’s La Nausée, search for truth, Simone de Beauvoir, Socratic midwife, straight talk, theoretical entities, univocality v ambiguity, virtual meeting | Leave a comment

The Personal Meets the Political

Posted on March 10, 2020 by Abigail

The Personal Meets the Political I’m still reading A Dangerous Liaison, the book by Carole Seymour-Jones, about the great twentieth-century power couple, Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. In my previous blog on them, I focused on the inconsistency between … Continue reading →

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Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir

Posted on February 25, 2020 by Abigail

Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir Talk about a Power Couple! He is responsible for the 20th-century French Existentialist claims that life is absurd, God nonexistent, we create our identities and the values we give to our projects. And she? … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, books, Childhood, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, 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, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Literature, Love, Male Power, master, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual not religious, status, status of women, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theology, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged acculturation, anti-nature, arbitrary life projects, aristocratic pretensions, École normale supérieure, beauty and ugliness, bourgeois values, Carol Seymour-Jones’ A Dangerous Liason, character formation, compensatory piety, constructed identity, contingency, cosmetic values, created identities, dowry, escaping poverty, everything is permitted, existential misjudgments, false aristocracy, female chastity, female nature, feminine submission, French aestheticism, French existentialism, God’s non-existence, good-looking Frenchmen, gratuitous act, human nature, human nothingness, inherited wealth, intellectuals and culture, invented identities, invented values, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean-Paul Sartre's Being and Nothingness, Jean-Paul Sartre’s Nausea, lookism, making the best of circumstances, mariage de raison, marital failure, marrying for class, marrying for money, Merleau-Ponty, necessity and contingency, normaliens, Power couple, Sartre’s family, second wave feminism, self-invention, Simone de Beauvoir, Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, social class, social enchantment, social power, submissive womanhood, the Big Questions, the for-itself, the in-itself, the ugly kid, verbal brilliance, wealth and privilege, without God, womanizing husband, women's liberation, words as weapons | 1 Comment

A Good Look at Evil

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Abigail

A Good Look at Evil Last Friday the galley proofs arrived for the new edition of my book, A Good Look at Evil. When the first edition came out, decades back, Temple University Press nominated it for a Pulitzer prize. … Continue reading →

Posted in Academe, Action, Alienation, Art of Living, Autonomy, bureaucracy, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, hegemony, Heroes, hierarchy, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, master, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, motherhood, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, relationships, Roles, secular, Seduction, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "the talent in the room", Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", academe, academic eminence, academic research, Adolf Eichmann, ahead of its time, Betty Friedan, blurbs, book publishing, collegial relations, Eichmann's Argentine transcripts, endorsements, Eric Voegelin Society, Evil, Famous feminists, feminine self-erasure, first edition, flattery, founding mothers, galley proofs, genocide, Gloria Steinem, good and evil, good philosopher, Holocaust, Holocaust memories, keeping current, life story, Lionel Trilling, literary honors, living one’s story, mass murderer, Nazi thinking, non-fiction narrative, Norman Mailer, opinion shapers, philosophers, philosophic literacy, preface, professional recognition, professional renown, public intellectuals, Pulitzer Prize, reprint, second edition, Simone de Beauvoir, SS, Susan Sontag, Temple University Press, the Eichmann trial, the narrative view, Wipf and Stock | 1 Comment

“Chivalry”

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Abigail

Chivalry John Adams, who was the second president of the United States, wrote: “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” At present, the people of the … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Chivalry, Christianity, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, 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, Immorality, Institutional Power, Journalism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master, Medieval, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Mortality, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, Spirituality, 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, victimhood, victims, Violence, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged American presidency, animal nature, animality, Bill Clinton, Broaddrick NBC interview, careerism, chivalric words, chivalry of men, citizen's virtue, denial, desire and motivation, disgust, Donald Trump, en proie à l’espèce, erasing desire, Feminism, feminists, future of the republic, gross language, grossness, harm of rape, Hillary Clinton, honor of women, hotel room advances, ideality, Ideologues, ignoble words, John Adams, Juanita Broaddrick, locker room banter, loss of desire, lying, memory blackouts, moral evasion, moral freedom, NBC interview with Lisa Myers, partisanship, political debates, political expertise, pornography, presidential race 2016, protective distance, rape, rapist, RealClearPolitics, seducer, silencing victims, Simone de Beauvoir, sympathy with women, the weaker sex, trauma recollected, unwanted advances, violent rape, virtue and republican government, vulgarity, will to live, words that violate | Leave a comment

“The Delicacy of Women”

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Abigail

The Delicacy of Women There is a scene in Sartre’s magnum opus, Being and Nothingness, the book by which he influenced several generations of young people who wanted to be numbered among the existentialists. A man and a woman are … Continue reading →

Posted in Academe, Action, Alienation, Art, Autonomy, Chivalry, Contradictions, Cool, Courtship, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, history of ideas, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master, Memoir, motherhood, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, Power, Psychology, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Seduction, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Time, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Arjuna, bad faith, Being and Nothingness, bourgeois morality, bridegroom, carnal desire, co-ed bathrooms, co-ed dorms, college drinking, consentual sex, coyness, existentialists, flirtation, fraternities, hero, hook-up culture, inauthenticity, India, inhibitions, Ivy League, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jewish orthodoxy, Krishna, liberal education, Mahabharata, mauvaise foi, men and women, modesty, monogamy, old wives tales, open marriage, Paris cafes, philosophical argument, polyamory, rape on campus, seduction, sexual consent, Sexuality, shyness, Simone de Beauvoir, Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, sincerity and authenticity, social construction, tv serials, wedding night, widows, Yale University, younger women and older women | Leave a comment

“Intellectual Women”

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Abigail

“Intellectual Women” Ugh. What a subject! I guess I’m one, but it doesn’t sound like a fun topic. In college, I had hesitated before deciding to major in philosophy. Would it look mannish? Would eligible bachelors be put off? When … Continue reading →

Posted in Academe, Action, Alienation, Autonomy, Chivalry, Courtship, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Hegel, History, history of ideas, Identity, Ideology, Institutional Power, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master, Memoir, nineteenth-century, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, Power, Psychology, relationships, Roles, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Time, twentieth century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged abrasive women, animal courtship, Being and Nothingness, books that change lives, Brooklyn College, co-education, coming out of the closet, discipline, dumbing down, eligible bachelors, equality of achievement, existentialism, female professor, Feminism, Flirting, freedom, gender performance, gender roles, gender-based laws, Hegel, ideology, intellectual power, Jean-Paul Sartre, male and female colleagues, male dominance, male rivalry, National Geographic, nineteenth-century philosophy, pecking order, revolutions in history, Simone de Beauvoir, sociobiology, the mating game, The Second Sex, women in philosophy | 3 Comments

“Kid Stuff”

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Abigail

Illustration by Kurt Wiese in All The Mowgli Stories by Rudyard Kipling “Kid Stuff” In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir writes that women often preface a remark or opinion by saying, “when I was a little girl,” when what … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Erotic Life, Femininity, Friendship, Gender Balance, Literature, Masculinity, Philosophy, Political, Psychology, relationships, Sexuality, Social Conventions, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Woman | Tagged adulthood, Baloo, canary, childhood, Gender, kids, Mowgli, Mowgli Stories, New Jersey, New York, Rudyard Kipling, Sexuality, Simone de Beauvoir, summer, summer camp, The Jungle Book, The Second Sex, Watchung Mountains, woman | Leave a comment

“Masculinity”

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Abigail

1899 | “Berth deck cooks aboard cruiser U.S.S. Brooklyn” | Edward H. Hart “Masculinity” Any woman still maintaining that the terms “masculinity” and “femininity” should be put between scare quotes, as mere social or grammatical constructs, is invited to walk … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Femininity, Feminism, Gender Balance, Masculinity, Philosophy, Political, Sexuality | Tagged Brooklyn, Colette, Femininity, Feminity, gender roles, God, jeune fille, Masculinity, Plato, Simone de Beauvoir, Vinca | Leave a comment

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Tag Archives: Simone de Beauvoir

“Masculinity”

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