Tag Archives: The Examined Life

What’s Missing?

Posted on January 27, 2026 by Abigail

The adults among whom I grew up were somewhat mysterious to me. They weren’t like other kids’ parents. But they were hyper-intelligent, at home in a world of emigrés – including the women who served as my European role models … 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 Archeology, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, Desire and Authenticity, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, ethnicity, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, fatherhood, 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, martyrdom, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, medieval, 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, repairing the culture, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, science, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, seventeenth century, sex appeal, sexuality, 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, Truth, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged artistic torment, atypical parents, being as good as your word, being who you say, character transparency, clarified character, classy Americans, credible role models, Dostoevsky’s heroes, emigrés role models, European role models, finding bedrock, finding one’s footing, flawed role models, funding Gandhi, Gandhi, Gandhi and truth-force, Gandhi’s celibacy, Gandhi’s habits, Gandhi’s personal unfairness, Gandhi’s satyagraha, Gandhi’s sleeping arrangements, Henry David Thoreau, humanity at highest level, humanity at top-level, hyper-intelligent adults, imperfect role models, living derivatively, living imitatively, living independently, living originally, Mrs. Emerson and Thoreau’s laundry, mysterious adults, paying for Gandhi, quiet desperation, real life and pretense, role models, simplify simplify, Socrates and Xantippe, Socrates dismisses Xantippe, Socrates in The Phaedo, Socrates sends the women away, Socrates’ death scene, Socrates’ final dialogue, Socratic dialogues, The Examined Life, The Life Worth Living, Thoreau simplifies his story, Thoreau’s Walden Pond, unpretentious role models, what you say and what you are, women and high-level adventures, women and originality, women role models, word matching deed | 2 Comments

Therapy from the Jews

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Abigail

Therapy from the Jews Have the Jews anything to offer the world today in their capacity as Jews? The remarkable plasticity and resilience of anti-semitism doesn’t answer my question about being a Jew: what the hell good is it? Let’s … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, art of living, atheism, autonomy, Bible, Biblical God, childhood, Christianity, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, Gnosticism, Hegel, hegemony, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, idolatry, Jews, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, memoir, memory, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mysticism, nineteenth-century, ontology, oppression, past and future, peace, philosophy, political, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, propaganda, public facade, reductionism, relationships, roles, secular, self-deception, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, Zeitgeist | Tagged Alber Camus, anti-semitism, assimilation, authorship by committee, being modern. modernity, Bibical record, Bible, Bible as metaphor, Brooklyn College, chronological experience, conventional conduct, covenant, cultural baggage, dialectical life, documentary hypothesis, dogmatism, erasing personhood, escapism, ethnic identity, false transcendence, God as energy, God as Person, God of history, higher criticism, History, human wholeness, human/divine relations, intersectionality, Jewish mind-set, Jewish orthodoxy, Jewish practices, linear thinking, literary reading of Bible, living one’s time, mechanical conformity, merger with the Absolute, Mysticism, observant Jews, Oral Law, Orthodox students, personal God, personhood, pragmatism, pretentiousness, principle of charity miracles, problem-solving, providential interventions, realm of action, religious identity, religious pretense, role of chronology, saintliness, scientism, self-correction, signing on to the covenant, Sinaitic covenant, supersessionism, Talmud, the Biblical record, The Examined Life, The Jewish Review of Books, Thomas Cahill’s The Gift of the Jews & How the Irish Saved Civilization, thought experiment, universality, Utopianism, world without Jews | Leave a comment

About Confessions of a Young Philosopher

Posted on June 27, 2017 by Abigail

About Confessions of a Young Philosopher A few months have gone by since I actually put the concluding punctuation marks on Confessions of a Young Philosopher. Since then, it has been making its way through the strange maelstrom of the publishing … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, bureaucracy, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, immorality, institutional power, Jews, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, novels, oppression, past and future, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, radicalism, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, secular, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, 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 woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a life problematic, a writer’s quest, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", biographies, book agents, book reviewers, books assigned in courses, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, cultural breakthrough, Culture, exhibitionism, extra-sensitivity, fashionable taboos, good and evil, great editors, identity, invisibility, life secrets, literary quality, memoirs, Mind Control, moral rank-pulling, novels, Oppression, originality, paradigm shift, periodicals, philosophers, psychological rank-pulling, public jeering, public leering, publishing world, race, recognized niches, religion, search for identity, self-acceptance, self-definition, self-righteousness, self-understanding, sex, Socrates, spiritual seeker, spirituality, subjective amplifications, the book business, The Examined Life, the philosophic life, the reading public, trade presses, university presses, Zeitgeist | 2 Comments

“A Philosopher’s and a Woman’s Place”

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Abigail

“A Philosopher’s and a Woman’s Place” I’ve mentioned that a former colleague — alongside whom many a good fight was fought — has decided (to my great surprise) to nominate me to give one of the American Philosophical Association’s John … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art of living, autonomy, beauty, chivalry, Christianity, cities, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, heroes, hidden God, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, institutional power, journalism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, memoir, mind control, modernism, motherhood, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political, political movements, power, propaganda, psychology, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, seduction, sex appeal, sexuality, slave, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "nice girls", "pretty girls", "thinking like a man", "thinking like a woman", "ugly girls", 20th century ideologies, 3:00 o'clock in the morning, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Getting Past Marx and Freud" Clio Vol. 15 Number 1, academic journals, academic philosophy, acceptance letter, activism, Ambiguity, ambition, anal sex, anomalies, anti-colonial activism, Arab culture, Authenticity, beauty and fashion, body armor, career women, careers, classical virtues, colleagues, collegiality, communism, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, cosmopolitan night life, counter-examples, dark night of the soul, Department of General Philosophy, Department of Traditional and Modern Philosophy, doctoral dissertation, embarrasment, encoded lives, eternal truths, ex-husbands, fallacy of equivocation, family honor, feminine ego, Freudianism, G.W.F. Hegel, historicism, historiography, history and eternal truth, honor killing, hymenoplasty, hypotheses, immodest dress, immolation of women, intellectual freedom, Jehovah's Witnesses, job struggle, John Dewey Lectures, Katherine Zoepf's "Excellent Daughters: The Secret Lives of Young Women Who Are Transforming the Arab World", Lebanese women, male ego, masculine thinking, Master's thesis, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, murder, Muslim women, oral sex, originality, partriarchy, peer reviewed journals, philosophy, philosophy journals, piety, primordial fear, problem-solving, professional life, put downs, rape, refereed journals, rejection letter, research, sexual availability, sincerity, surface freedom, Sydney University, Syrian women, talent, The Examined Life, the Other, the philosophic life, the Qur'an, The Woman Question, unauthorized marriage, underground, virginity, Western dress, Western feminists, womanhood, womanliness, women in universities, women's freedom, writer's craft | 2 Comments

“Death”

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Abigail

“Death” In the 1787 painting by Jacques-Louis David, Socrates is about to drink the hemlock. That was the execution method to which he was condemned by an Athenian jury for the crime of asking too many philosophic questions. Cebes, one … Continue reading →

Posted in academe, art, culture, history of ideas, life and death struggle, philosophy, political, psychology, the examined life, the problematic of woman | Tagged alienation, ancient philosophy, Athens, barbarians, Cebes, death, End-of-Life, fear, fear of death, Greece, Hellas, Jacques-Louis David, learning how to die, little deaths, nothingness, Socrates, soul, suffering, The Examined Life, the great equalizer, women and death | 2 Comments

Tag Archives: The Examined Life

“Death”

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