Tag Archives: straight talk

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

A Steeper Cliff

Posted on October 24, 2017 by Abigail

A Steeper Cliff The escarpment of Sunday loomed as one of life’s steeper cliffs. At 10:00 a.m. that morning, Jerry was scheduled to give a talk about his book, God: An Autobiography as told to a philosopher. By now he’s … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, 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, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Mysticism, non-violence, novels, Ontology, Oppression, 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, radicalism, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, 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, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged afterlife compensations, afterlife of pets, agnostic, aliens, an inconvenient God, believer, Bible study, Bigfoot, book talks, courage, credulity, different worlds coming together, divine chariot wheels, doubting, encountering God, epistemolgy, escapism, ghosts, God and history, God is love, God's messenger, God's pilot project, God's self-revelation, God's voice, God's words, Hallmark Cards, hearing God's voice, intermarriage, Jerry L. Martin's "God: an Autobiography as Told to a Philosopher", Jewish covenant, Jewish education, Jewish experience with God, Jewish memory, Jewish survival, Jews in Bucks County, Jews in Manhattan, joining a temple, keeping friends apart, life challenge, literary devices, loss of identity, male agnostic, marital adventure, meaning of Jews, mission from God, moral imperative, New Age, New Age banalities, New Age reading, other-wordly tourism, past lives, preserving memory, problem-solving, prophet, Q & A with God, real world problems, Reform temple membership, rhetorical devices, skepticism, straight talk, Sunday, Temple Judea, the God experience, the metaphysical inventory, theory of knowledge, Torah Study, we are all one | Leave a comment

Death, Dying, and Heroes

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Abigail

Death, Dying, and Heroes Nowadays it’s not uncommon to hear people say that they’re not afraid of death, just of dying. I think this is heard more frequently than it used to be. The news that consciousness does survive the … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, Afterlife, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, bureaucracy, Childhood, Chivalry, Class, Contemplation, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Eternity, Evil, Faith, Fashion, Freedom, Friendship, Health, Heroes, hidden God, history of ideas, Ideality, Identity, Immortality, Institutional Power, life and death struggle, Love, Masculinity, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Mysticism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, Power, presence, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, scientism, self-deception, social climbing, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, the profane, the sacred, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Zeitgeist | Tagged a son's recollections, a time to die, academics, afterlife, art of dying, Art of Living, becoming who one is, bereavement, bodily ills, brain death, cancer, courage, death, dying, ebbing natural force, extraordinary people, father and son, father-in-law, father-son relations, fear of death, fear of doctors, going to the light, good storyteller, grace, gratitude to caregivers, heaven and hell, heroes, hospice care, lasting love, Leo Tolstoy, Leo Tolstoy's Death of Ivan Ilyich, letting go, letting nature take its course, losing power, marital love, natural force, navigating old age, not being fooled, opinion shapers, ordinary people, patience in dying, philosophers, plain speech, retirement facility, reviewers, secular humanists, self-containment, self-renewal, self-restraint, social scientists, storytelling, straight talk, subtle realism, surrender in dying, surviving death, tai chi class, Texas in the 1920s, Texas speech, the humanities, theologians, unembellished speech, walkers, worldly cares | 11 Comments

Tag Archives: straight talk

Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column

Recent Posts