Tag Archives: Spinoza

Married Philosophers Discuss Confessions: Preface, Part 4

Posted on March 11, 2025 by Abigail

Today Dr. Jerry L. Martin and Dr. Abigail L. Rosenthal (author of Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column) complete their discussion of the Preface to her new book, Confessions of a Young Philosopher. Let’s see how their discussion winds up. *** *** Jerry: In … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, agnosticism, alienation, American politics, anthropology, anti-semitism, appreciation, art, art of living, atheism, authenticity, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, books, bureaucracy, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, ethnicity, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, female power, femininity, feminism, filial piety, 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, Jesus, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, Married Philosophers Discuss Confessions, martyrdom, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, motherhood, mysticism, Nihilism, nineteenth-century, non-violence, novels, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, power games, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, racism, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, remembrance, Renaissance, repairing the culture, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, 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, 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 "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", 20th-century philosophy, Abigail L. Rosenthal, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", academic philosophy, authenticity and truth, authenticity in love, Confession as a genre, Divine witness, ethics and integrity, ethics of love, examined life, existential reflection, faith and reason, feminist philosophy, Fulbright scholarship, God as backup for truthfulness, God as Witness, God's bias for truthfulness, God's Witness and truthfulness, grin and bear it, happy ending, honest motivation, human experience, idealism vs reality, inauthentic religion, insuperable obstacles, intellectual honesty, intellectual independence, Jewish philosophy, leaving home, liberty of mind, life as experiment, life as experiment with truth, life's ideal dimension, life's verticle dimension, live your philosophy, living authentically, living sincerely, living without pretense, living your ideas, love of wisdom, married philosophers, moral courage, moral philosophy, mystical experience, Paris, Paris in the 20th century, Paris memoirs, personal philosophy, philosophical autobiography, philosophical journey, philosophical memoir, philosophical storytelling, philosophy and love, philosophy and spirituality, philosophy of love, putting ideas to the test, real life as a test of ideas, romantic marriages, search for truth, seeking truth, seeking wisdom, self-deception, self-discovery, self-trust, sincerity in philosophy, smile!, Spinoza, stoicism, testing one's ideals, true aim of marriage, true love, truth in marriage, unforeseen pitfalls, wisdom traditions, witness to truth, women authors, women philosophers, worldly warnings, you can't fool God | Leave a comment

Nibbles from the Tree of Knowledge

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Abigail

Nibbles from the Tree of Knowledge On my night table for last read of the evening is a book with the title, Forbidden Knowledge. It concerns a topic that I’d never considered as such: whether there are, or ought … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, art, art of living, atheism, Bible, Biblical God, books, Christianity, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, 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, immortality, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, martyrdom, masculinity, memory, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, nineteenth-century, ontology, oppression, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, propaganda, psychology, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, Renaissance, roles, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, sexuality, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, 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, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "the moderns", absurdist philosophies, Adam and Eve, Aristotle, Aristotle's Metaphysics, bedtime reading, book of Genesis, broken places, classical civilization, cognitive powers, corrupt intelligence, curiosity, curiosity and its dangers, cynicism, dialectic and its dangers, divine prohibition, fundamental values, getting help in life, greatness of philosophy, Greco-Roman source, Hegel, hollowness of soul, Judeo-Christian Civilization, knowing too much, logos of the cosmos, moral dangers, noble truth, original sin, philosophic journey, philosophic rationalism, philosophy and culture, philosophy and zeitgeist, philosophy's goal, philosophy’s influence, Prometheus, Prometheus punished, rational animal, Roger Shattuck’s Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography, scientism, secular science, Socrates, Socratic ignorance, Spinoza, stealing fire, the ancients, The Enlightenment, The Garden of Eden, the great rationalists, the great systems, the hard problems, the meaning of life, the medievals, theology of The Fall, theory of everything, tree of knowledge, tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Western Civilization, world historical hero | 4 Comments

Wingeing, Death and Debility

Posted on July 31, 2018 by Abigail

Wingeing, Death and Debility Years ago, I was in the Australian Blue Mountains, climbing the rockiest, thorniest, steepest wilderness trail that I could ever hope never to find. We were a troop of philosophers from Sydney University’s Department of General … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, Biblical God, books, chivalry, Christianity, cities, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, 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, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immortality, Jews, journalism, Judaism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, love, memoir, memory, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, mysticism, ontology, past and future, peace, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, scientism, secular, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, 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, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged afterlife evidence, Australia, Blue Mountains of Australia, bush walk, Christian salvation, conversion, conversion to Judaism, death as the end, death of friends, departed friends, evidence of things unseen, fashionable doubt, fashionable opinion, fashionable skepticism, heaven, how to die, how to live, intelligent hope, kvetching, mikvah, mortality, outdoorsmen, philosophic friendship, Philosophy Department, preparation for death, remembering the departed, rock climbing, self-knowledge, Socrates, soul and body, Spinoza, stiff upper lip, stoicism, surviving death, Sydney University, the afterlife, The New York Book Review, The New York Review of Books, the next life, vale of tears, wilderness trail, wingeing, women friends | 2 Comments

Anger

Posted on November 14, 2017 by Abigail

Anger At one of the numberless administrative hearings held during my seven-year job fight, the opposing counsel asked me, with an insinuating sidewise smile, “Are you very angry at the people who fired you?” I glanced down the long table … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, bureaucracy, 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, 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, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, non-violence, novels, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, 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, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 17th century metaphysics, 17th century philosophy, a woman's anger, academic colleagues, academic hearings, academic politics, academic reinstatement, academic sexism, academic tenure, administrative hearings, anger, anger as truthful, anger management, Arbitration, bad guys, combat of life, dealing with anger, deliberate injury, determinism, drama of life, free will, freedom, Gandhi and non-violence, God as Substance, God as Witness, God is a Person, God's love, hard to be a person, healthy anger, impersonal God, interpersonal dynamics, interpersonal skills, job fight, laws of history, laws of nature, Mahatma, martial arts of social life, merited anger, metaphysical system, overcoming anger, personal choice, personal God, persons as objects, professional hell, promise breaking, real life dramas, reclaiming your power, resentment, revenge-seekers, Right and Wrong, risks of life, satyagraha, self-definition, sexism, sidestepping anger, soul force, Spinoza, Spinoza's Ethics, Spinozistic remedy, substance attributes and modes, tenure fight, Ultimate Action, Ultimate Causality, understanding as power, Unqualified Power, Western films | 2 Comments

“Hanging Fire”

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Abigail

“Hanging Fire” I seem to be at a rather gratifying plateau. “Confessions of a Young Philosopher” is now edited almost to completion. It may take another few weeks but the major hurdles have been cleared. It is, if I may … Continue reading →

Posted in academe, action, alienation, art, autonomy, cities, class, contemplation, contradictions, cool, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, guilt and innocence, history, history of ideas, identity, ideology, institutional power, Jews, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, modernism, philosophy, political, political movements, power, psychology, reductionism, relationships, roles, seduction, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, theism, time, twentieth century, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", "Conversations with My Father", "The Consolations of Philosophy: Hobbes's Secret; Spinoza's Way" by Henry M. Rosenthal; ed. Abigail L. Rosenthal, 9/11, American culture, archives, biography, blessings, book projects, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, cracking the code, editing, enigma, experience of God, fathers and daughters, genius, Henry M. Rosenthal, High School of Music and Art, historical memoir, Hobbes, Holocaust rescue, intellectual friendships, Islamism, Jews, journals, letters, liberal intellectuals, Lionel Trilling, literary critic, male friendship, New York, New York intellectuals, Partisan Review, personal correspondence, personal God, philosophy, posthumous conversations, posthumous publication, public intellectuals, rationalism, seventeenth century rationalists, Spinoza, Terror, terrorism, theism, theistic experience, victims, Wars of Religion, writing | 3 Comments

“Coincidence?”

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Abigail

“Coincidence?” I have a particular fondness for deer. After many a summer sojourn in Downeast Maine, I once said to friends, “You know, I’ve never seen a deer here.” That very afternoon, as I was driving home, a doe obligingly … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, faith, philosophy, political, the examined life | Tagged "the pathetic fallacy", 9/11, chance, coincidence, Hobbes, human purpose, Kierkegaard, magic, New Age, omens, ordeals, Osama bin Laden, Patanjali, portents, precognitive dreams, seduction, signs, Spinoza, the universe, vibes, World Trade Center, yoga sutras | Leave a comment

“What Kind of a God?”

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Abigail

“What Kind of a God?” I have been following, with a mixture of emotions — including curiosity and claustrophobia — C. S. Lewis’s account, in Surprised by Joy, of his conversion to theism (belief in a personal God) from his … Continue reading →

Posted in academe, art, culture, desire, faith, gender balance, history of ideas, life and death struggle, literature, masculinity, nineteenth-century, philosophy, political, psychology, social conventions, the examined life | Tagged Absolute, anthroposophy, élan vital, Britain, C.S. Lewis, conversion, divine, England, Henri Bergson, holistic healing, honor, human desire, Materialism, New Age, occult, Occultism, Oscar Wilde, Oxford University, philosophy, prayer, prophetic, reality, sex, Spinoza, SUNY, Surprised By Joy, theism, theosophy, World War I, yoga | Leave a comment