Tag Archives: the big picture
The Owl of Minerva Takes Flight
“The owl of Minerva takes flight only at dusk.” So wrote G. W. F. Hegel, the nineteenth century’s major philosopher of history. By that he meant that any given phase of history can be understood only in retrospect – after … Continue reading
Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, Childhood, Chivalry, Christianity, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, 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, Industrial Revolution, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, motherhood, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Racism, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, 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, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged ancient skepticism, anthropic principle, Antony Flew’s There is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind, brainwashing, cancel culture and desire, cancel culture and social power, chance and life’s origin, coerced confessions, culture and the absolute, culture and ultimate truth, Darwin and chance, Darwinian evolution, decoding present history, desire and erotic skepticism, erotic manipulation, foreseeing the future, Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History and the Last Man, Fukuyama and liberal democracy, G.W.F. Hegel, George Orwell's 1984, guilt and social power, Hegel and history, historical eros, ideology and tyranny, intelligibility of history, laws of probability and evolution, liberal democratic values, Mind Control, Modernity, my story and humanity’s story, natural purposes, ostracism and social power, owl of Minerva, personal story and world history, philosophy and teleology, postmodern skepticism, postmodernism and denial, psychoanalysis, purposiveness in nature, reading the Zeitgeist, Robert Jay Lifton's Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of “Brainwashing” in China, skepticism, skepticism and biological nature, skepticism in history, Sy Garte’s The Works of His Hands: A Scientist’s Journey from Atheism to Faith, teleology, the big picture, the bird’s eye view of history, The Owl of Minerva and history, theology and teleology, Ukraine and Western nations, Ukraine as a test of values, understanding the present, world history and liberal democracy
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The Meaning of My Life?
The Meaning of My Life? Viktor Frankl wrote a book reflecting on the meaning of his experiences when he was incarcerated in a Nazi death camp. He found that people needed their lives to be meaningful – more than they … Continue reading
Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hidden God, history of ideas, Ideality, Identity, Idolatry, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Martyrdom, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, scientism, self-deception, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, 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, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged accidents are accidental, anxiety dream, catch 22, catch 22 situation, crisis of meaning, despairing life view, diminished sensory input, elephant in the room, emotional landscape, experimental neuropathy treatment, experimental treatment, false meanings, fate v chance, forcing meanings, Hardy-esque landscape, Jones fracture, life dilemma, logic v empathy, Loma Linda Neuropathic Therapy Center, losing the big picture, meaning of life, meaningful life, meaningless happening, neuro-vascular system, neuropathy, not God's plan, random incident, rush to judgment, searching for meaning in the wrong place, sensory input, Socratic dialectic, Socratic test for truth, sound argument, syllogism, the big picture, the sake of the argument, Thomas Hardy worldview, toe fracture, trivial incident, valid argument, Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning
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What’s With the Nothing?
What’s With the Nothing? In the mornings, when I sit for meditation, I ask for input from On High and generally aspire to learn what the day should hold for me if I orient rightly. Normally, the answers I get … Continue reading
Posted in Academe, Action, Alienation, Art, Art of Living, beauty, Biblical God, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Faith, Femininity, Freedom, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Jews, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Love, Masculinity, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, morality, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Political, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Race, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, secular, Seduction, self-deception, 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, Theism, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", absurdity, bigotry, blaming Israel, class hatred, conflict resolution, Continental philosophy, deep thinking, divine guidance, emptiness, evil doers, existentialists, global consensus, God in the world, happy every after, ideological conflict, intuitive insight, Israel, Jews, Martin Heidegger, meditation, nihilism, philosophers in cafes, Plato's Republic, pointlessness, political differences, Poussin’s Et in Arcadia ego, prayer input, psychical differences, purpose of life, race prejudice, received opinion, receptivity, root canal surgery, saving the planet, self-assurance, self-discovery, self-knowledge, self-realization, self-trust, skepticism, stereotyping, the big picture, The Nothing, trusting intuition, unforced agreement, who am I?
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Paying Nostalgia Forward
Paying Nostalgia Forward Jerry and I celebrated our eighteenth wedding anniversary last Friday. We watched the inauguration (moving right along here), and then drove through the rain to a Hindu temple in New Jersey that the wonderful lady who runs … Continue reading
Posted in Academe, Action, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Childhood, Chivalry, Cities, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Faith, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Health, Heroes, hidden God, History, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Institutional Power, Literature, Love, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, motherhood, Mysticism, Ontology, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, politics, Power, presence, promissory notes, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, 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, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged a good marriage, being a good couple, being understood, childhood, courage, courtship, cutting the umbilical cord, cyclical time, defining desires, desire, Eastern art, emotional health, falling in love, filial piety, first love, French restaurant, growing up, Hindu temple, homesickness, Indian aesthetic, integrality, lasting desires, life frontiers, life story, linear time, longing, Madison Avenue, Manhattan apartment, marble sculpture, Marriage, maturity, new projects, New York City, New Yorkers, non-historical v historical, nostalgia, opposites attract, overcoming tyrannies, parents, Paris, partnership, personal identity, private space, professional identity, publishing articles, recovery, refusing to grow up, renewal, repairing wounds, repression, Romantic Love, romantic risks, sculpture in high relief, secrets of the future, secrets of the past, seeing significance, self-recovery, self-renewal, self-repair, shared space, suitable life partner, Texans, Texas panhandle, the big picture, the future, the large scheme, the past, the present, true love, uncured wounds, unworthy suitors, Washington DC, wedding anniversary, Western art, wholeness
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