Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column
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"I would like to open this site for conversation with women of all ages, convictions and styles of life – wherever situated on the gamut of experience. In principle, there is no bar to men joining in, since how one defines women has a lot to do with what it means to be a man. But it is women I invite to pull up a chair at this virtual café table and put their questions and views into the conversation. I can be wrong as often as right, so specific advice will be avoided. What will be sought is light on how best to frame the situation of women, considered as a highly interesting problematic. What kind of hand have we been dealt, as women, and how can we best play it?
Comments are warmly encouraged on any post at any point."
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Tag Archives: St. Augustine
Philosophy and Me
Philosophy and Me Goodness, who cares! you might well think, seeing the title of this column. But isn’t that what concerns each of us, whenever we’ve been required or drawn to read some philosophy? What about me? How does this … Continue reading
Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, bigotry, books, Christianity, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Institutional Power, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, nineteenth-century, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, seventeeth century, Sex Appeal, social climbing, 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, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged 19th-century nihilism, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", benefits of philosophy, Classical skepticism, competing moral claims, competing truth claims, condemnation syndrome, contemporary philosophers, cultural guilt, current intellectual life, Descartes and the moderns, dominance v subordination, exercises of power, finding common ground, Greco-Roman culture, guilt and regret, hypocrisy, implicit absolutism, intellectual common ground, intercultural disputes, Jesuits of the Sorbonne, Kepler and Galileo, manipulative accusers, manipulative use of guilt, oppressed and oppressor, pagans v Christians, philosophers and guilt, philosophers as midwives of history, philosophic skill, philosophy as its own warrant, philosophy as personal, philosophy making a difference, philosophy the longest conversation, post-modernism and objective truth, post-modernism and objective values, post-modernism and philosophy, significance of philosophy, silence of philosophy, St. Augustine, the task of philosophy, unmasking power plays
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Eminence?
Eminence? Nowadays I have been listening to the audio version of A Good Look at Evil (forthcoming on Amazon, early 2021). Jane Cullen, who was my editor at Temple University Press when this book first came out, has a young … Continue reading
Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, books, Childhood, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, 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, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal’s A Good Look at Evil, Abigail L. Rosenthal’s Confessions of a Young Philosopher, abstract claims, acquiring a life story, audio version, audiobook, audiobook listeners, audiobook narrator, Augustine’s Confessions, book editor, career moves, changing one’s paradigm, chess game of life, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, cultural identity, defending turf, drama, Eminence, empathy, enacting a book, enacting philosophy, fame and fortune, fame as career, Guggenheim Museum, hyper-feminine, Jane Cullen, life of ideas, life-shaping beliefs, life-shaping ideas, lived dramas, Matthew Cohn, meeting objections, Metropolitan Museum, personal brand, personal identity, philosophic argument, philosophic career, philosophic claims, philosophic critic, plotline, professional commendation, reading aloud, search for truth, self-correction, self-criticism, speaking for effect, speaking sincerely, St. Augustine, Stockholm syndrome, Success, suspenseful plot, Temple University Press, thinking time, time for thought, world of ideas
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Yom HaShoah
Yom HaShoah I really hadn’t wanted to go this time. It’s the night for commemorating/remembering the Shoah, the Holocaust, which my temple observes annually. Christian clergy sit on the raised platform at the front of the sanctuary and read, taking … Continue reading
Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bureaucracy, Chivalry, Christianity, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, Medieval, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, motherhood, Mysticism, non-violence, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, scientism, Seduction, self-deception, 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, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged a past life, annihilation of the Jews, anti-Jewish imagery, anti-Zionism, Augustine's Jewish problem, Bishop Ambrose, board of trustees, burning synagogues, ceremony, choir, Christian clergy, Christian factions, commemoration, crazy history, David Nirenberg's Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition, diaspora, Divine Presence, divine/human partnership, empathy, empathy with victims, enemies of God, Evil, ex-terrorist, factional disputes, genocide, graciousness, Hebrew revival, Hebrew Scriptures, historian, historicity, Holocaust, Kasim Hafeez, mass murder, mass persecution, meditative silence, memory, mercilessness, new Covenant, New Israel, nice guys, normalized history, norms of decency, old Covenant, Old Testament, past life memory, pitilessness, promised land, Reform temple, reincarnation, remembering, resistence songs, saints, sanctuary, school spirit, Shekinah, Shoah, showing the flag, sincere clergy, spiritual victory, St. Augustine, supersessionism, Swedish incarnation, temple, The Bible, The Longest Hatred, theology of contempt, truthful sermon, victims, wandering Jew, warm bodies, witnessing, Yom HaShoah
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“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 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
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