Tag Archives: trust

Who Can You Believe?

Posted on January 12, 2021 by Abigail

Who Can You Believe? Since I don’t ask questions like the one above just to answer them with an urbane shoulder shrug, I’ll be glad to tell you. About a week ago, I received a call from someone I really … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, books, Childhood, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, eighteenth century, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immortality, Institutional Power, Law, Legal Responsibility, Literature, Love, Masculinity, master, memory, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, motherhood, nineteenth-century, non-violence, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, secular, Seduction, self-deception, 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, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail’s crisis, absurdity manufactured, animal friendships, Arabian horses, Authenticity, bad faith, Bentham embalmed, crisis of meaning, crisis of success, energy recognition, energy signature, four-footed friends, higher pleasures, horse competency, horse owners, horse sense, horseback riding, Houyhnhnms, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Laurel Nobilis Arabians LLC, Mill’s mental crisis, Moral crisis, mummification, philosophic crisis, post-achievement depression, post-success let down, the arrival fallacy, the credibility of lies, the greatest happiness principle, therapeutic riding, trust, trustworthiness, truthfulness, unpredictable patterns, unpretentiousness, utilitarianism, you can’t go home again | Leave a comment

Androgyny?

Posted on October 22, 2019 by Abigail

Androgyny? “The Lure of Androgyny” is the title of an article I just read. It reports that the trend to downplay biological differences between the sexes is now world-wide. This is different from giving women equal opportunity. More like: THERE’S … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, books, Chivalry, 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, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Journalism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Medieval, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, motherhood, novels, 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, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, 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, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged actors and actresses, androgyny, anti-male prejudice, athletes, biological female, biological male, blue jeans, censorship, crude men, cultural change, Dante's Beatrice, debased men, defending honor, defending women’s honor, Emmanuel Levinas, entertainment fields, equal opportunity, female vulnerability, feminine security, fire fighting, firefighter rescue, French philosophy, Freudian prohibitions, gender as social construct, Hamlet, hatred of men, high fashion designers, idealizing women, level playing field, Levinas’s “And God Created Woman”, life or death situation, magazine article, make love like a man, male bashing, male gallantry, male protectiveness, male trustworthiness, marital partnership, marital protection, Marriage, Mary Eberstadt’s “The Lure of Androgyny”, masculine protection, misandry, misogyny, Ophelia, overcoming inhibitions, parental role model, policewoman, political correctness, pop music, pressures on men, prizes for acting, protective fathers, redemptress, relations between the sexes. human to human v man to woman, respect for women, Richard Lovelace’s “To Lucasta on Going to the Wars”, sexual revolution, sexual tact, single mother, targeting weakness, the arts, the eternal feminine, The New York Review of Books, the victimized woman, theatre awards, toxic masculinity, trendy article, trust, truth in sports, unisex, unisex bathrooms, unisex designers, unisex outfits, unisex sports, winning the race, women athletes, women firefighters, women in the military, women's liberation, women’s self-defense, Woodstock, worldwide trends | Leave a comment

My Worst Birthday

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Abigail

My Worst Birthday If we hadn’t begun it the evening before, it would have been even more disastrous. But I was scheduled to have an author photo taken by a professional photographer who does those things, and my dread of … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Childhood, Chivalry, Christianity, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Idolatry, Institutional Power, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Mysticism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Political Movements, politics of ideas, Power, presence, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, secular, 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 Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", acts of God, Authenticity, author photo, authorial assignments, bad attitudes, birthday, birthday dinner, caring friends, childhood best friends, compatibility, compatible marriage, country gospel, disciplined callings, disciplined lives, earned miracles, emergency cancellations, expectations, finding the silver lining, French restaurant, frightening consequences, frustrating consequences, frustration, genuine friendships, good attitudes, gospel hymn, happy birthday, happy marriage, health imperative, imagined expectations, inauthenticity, inclement weather, inspiration, Just A Closer Walk With Thee, knee injury, light at the end of the tunnel, living for distraction, looking on the sunny side, lost footing, lowered expectations, Marriage, miracles, motels booked, motels dark, muffled inspiration, neuropathy, neuropathy treatments, Nor'easter, not settling for less, noticing the helps, photo phobia, power outage, prayer guidance, prestige and status, professional photographer, projected plans, projecting worst case, projection, real friends, romantic delusions, romantic hopes, Romantic Love, search for shelter, settling for less, significant other, sincerity, sincerity overrated, slough of despond, speaking enagements, staying in the present, the camera doesn't lie, the luck of the draw, the marriage lottery, the writing rationale, time-servers, true love, trust, trusting the helps, trying to pray, unaffected friendship, unforseen setbacks, variety in friends, wellness imperative, worst birthday, worst case scenario, worthwhile lives | 7 Comments

“Believe You Me”

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Abigail

“Believe You Me” In “Treachery and Transcendence,” last week’s column, I wrote about the disappointing “new treatment” for my walking handicap. Despite all, I decided to continue it for another week or two, just to see if it could be … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bureaucracy, Chivalry, Christianity, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, 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, Masculinity, master, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, scientism, 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, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a patient's trust, action, Ambiguity, antecedent conditions, Arc of the Covenant, Ark of the Covenant, bad check, belief, broken promise, bystanders, chosen people, commitment, credance, credibility, demoralization, demoralizing experience, desert wandering, determinism, Divine mission, Egyptian bondage, Emmanuel Levinas, enabling, experimental treatment, fate of Korah, freedom, holiness, human worth, iatrogenic, interpersonal relationships, Israelites, Jean-Paul Sartre's Being and Nothingness, Korah's rebellion, land of milk and honey, Levite rebellion, Levites, lying, manna, midrash, misplaced help, moral dispute, Moral evaluation, moral responsibility, Moses, Moses' humility, Moses' leadership, Mount Sinai, nocebo effect, nullified promise, Numbers 16, parting of Red Sea, passover night, philosophers, placebo effect, plausibility, playing devil's advocate, prayer guidance, promise, promissory note, psychology, rebel faction, repairing the breach, repairing the world, Sartre's "the serious man", spiritual competition, spiritual envy, spiritual mediator, spiritual rank, spiritual track record, temptation, the Other, the ten plagues, Torah Study, transcendence, treachery, trust, truth, univocality, walking handicap, words | 2 Comments

Treachery and Transcendence

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Abigail

Treachery and Transcendence In a recent column, I told of a problem that arose during a new treatment for my walking handicap. One of the administering nurses routinely used an expression — always accompanied by a little laugh — that … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, bureaucracy, Chivalry, 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, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, master, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, non-violence, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Political, politics, politics of ideas, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romance, scientism, 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 Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Time, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "do no harm", a patient's trust, accusation, acting up, anger, blaming the victim, confrontations, consolation from prayer, cover story, curing injustice, demeaning words, detachment, disrespect, effective treatment, effects of prayer, errant employee, fury, gaslighting, guilt, handicap, in-house politics, incredible, insight from prayer, intelligent hope, keeping it brief, lost trust, lying, manipulation, medical protocol, meta-level, micro-aggression, mind/body connection, minimalist explanation, mischievous employee, neuropathy, nuns, nurse, office politics, outrage, patient's dignity, patient's rights, petitionary prayer, plausible, prayer, promise breaking, promise keeping, reprisal, responsible administration, righteous indignation, self-defense, self-exculpation, self-exoneration, self-protection, sense of dignity, significant dreams, signs of guilt, sympathy, tactlessness, the Hippocratic Oath, transparency, treatment room, trespass, troubleshooter, trust, under the radar, walking handicap, witness consciousness | 2 Comments

“Home Away from Home”

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Abigail

“Home Away from Home” “Abigail has always felt abandoned,” Léo Bronstein, my father’s best friend, once said. Léo was a sort of godfather to me and said this after he read the earlier version of my Confessions of a Young … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Action, Alienation, Childhood, Cities, Contradictions, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, History, history of ideas, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master, Medieval, Memoir, Mind Control, motherhood, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, Power, Psychology, Race, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Violence, War, Zeitgeist | Tagged "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", 1930's, abandonment, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", accuracy, afterlife rewards, age-mates, aggresion, attachment, Auschwitz, building superintendant, café atmosphere, café habituées, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, danger, defense, Divine permission, dysfunctional family, earthly Jerusalem, enemy agent, FBI, German spies, godfathers, hatred, heavenly Jerusalem, Hitler, Holocaust, home, homelessness, homelike, identity, international media, Jerusalem, Jihad, journalists, knife attacks, Leo Bronstein, Madison Avenue, medieval cartography, navel of the world, New York, nonsurvivors, offense, Park Avenue, provocation, security, sense of safety, short wave radio, sincerity, SS guard, survival, the objective case, The Wizard of Oz, troop ships, trust, truthfulness, U boats, Upper East Side, violence, World War II, Yorkville, Zyklon B | 4 Comments

“Ain’t I a Person?”

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Abigail

“Ain’t I a Person?” What’s a person? Am I a person? All the time? Is God? What’s going on when people say yes or no to questions like that? Jerry and I were in D.C. this week to celebrate the … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Autonomy, Chivalry, Cities, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, Heroes, History, history of ideas, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, Mind Control, motherhood, non-violence, Ontology, Peace, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, Power, Psychology, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Seduction, Sex Appeal, Social Conventions, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "the fix", academe, addiction, adulthood, alcoholism, anti-semitism, argument, autonomy, Brooklyn, Brooklyn College, collegiality, communication, corruption, D.C., dangers, defensiveness, dialogue, dignity, dumbstruck, empathy, fear, feminine identity, Feminism, fractional self, friendship, girlhood, God as Person, gothic, graft, grifters, happy child, healing, hidden self, higher ed, identity, inner core, innocence, interpretive frame, Jewish self-respect, Jewish students, life stages, loss, missing persons, opinions, orthodox Jews, person, personal God, personhood, philosophy, photo documentary, presence, reason, religious sincerity, righteous combats, self-respect, shock, teenage, toxic, trust, verbal hate, wholeness, womanhood, words, young-girl-in-flower | Leave a comment

“Absolutely Normal”

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Abigail

“Absolutely Normal” We were in Riverside, California, a few years back. Jerry’s mother, my mother-in-law, was dying. She had always been extremely kind to me. And she was having a very hard time of it. It is hard to get … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, Alienation, Autonomy, Contemplation, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Faith, Femininity, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, history of ideas, Identity, Jews, Love, Memoir, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Power, Psychology, relationships, Roles, Sexuality, Social Conventions, Spirituality, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time, Uncategorized, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "Conversions: A Philosophic Memoir", absolute and relative, absolutes, adolescence, adult friendship, celebrities, child development, cynicism, death and dying, dream visitation, editing, emotional cripples, explanatory hypotheses, filial piety, Freud, grief, heroic measures, hospice, Jewish essence, manuscripts, morality, normality, Oedipus complex, oxymorons, parent-child relations, parenting, personalities, posthumous publication, publication, trust, truth, writer's block | 4 Comments

“Integrity”

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Abigail

“Integrity” What is integrity? Is it a dull thing that you get by means of conformism and conventional thinking? Or is it interesting? It’s really, I think, neither conventional nor unconventional, neither conformist nor anti-conformist, neither respectable nor defiant of … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Culture, Femininity, relationships, Social Conventions | Tagged Authenticity, belief system, candor, character, charm, compassion, con man, con-artistry, conformist, conventionality, eloquence, friendship, integrity, Joan of Arc, non-conformist, normativity, paradigm, seduction, spirituality, Success, talent, transparency, trust, truth, vice and virtue | Leave a comment

Tag Archives: trust

Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column

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