Tag Archives: women friends

Competitive Friendships

Posted on October 23, 2018 by Abigail

Competitive Friendships When, as a young woman, I returned from a year in Paris with an affair to conceal (because that’s what you did about that sort of thing in those days) my women friends from high school and college … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, childhood, chivalry, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, institutional power, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, nineteenth-century, novels, past and future, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, 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, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "The Consolations of Philosophy: Hobbes's Secret; Spinoza's Way" by Henry M. Rosenthal; ed. Abigail L. Rosenthal, 19th century sage, academic party, Americans in Paris, assimilationism, Atheism, autobiographical story, “God is dead”, belief in God, bitch goddess, brass ring, brilliant career, broken friendship, companionship, confidants, conversion, cooling friendships, English culture, English Literature, father/daughter relationship, first love, friendship, Fulbright year, group think, Henry M. Rosenthal, inner conviction, Jewish defenses, Jewish identity, Jewish irony, life choice, Life in Culture: The Selected Letters of Lionel Trilling; ed. Adam Kirsch, Lionel Trilling, literary gifts, living at a depth, male friendship, man of God, marital sweepstakes, marriage market, missionary efforts, National Geographic films, only game in town, personal identity, personal pathway, personal transparency, philosopher, popularity, Public Intellectual, rabbinate, Ralph Waldo Emerson, rat race, secret affair, short story, social advantage, social convenience, social life, social wars, standing by your friends, Success, The Menorah Journal, the problematic of branding, theologian, Thomas Altizer, winners and losers, women friends, youthful promise | Leave a comment

Wingeing, Death and Debility

Posted on July 31, 2018 by Abigail

Wingeing, Death and Debility Years ago, I was in the Australian Blue Mountains, climbing the rockiest, thorniest, steepest wilderness trail that I could ever hope never to find. We were a troop of philosophers from Sydney University’s Department of General … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, Biblical God, books, chivalry, Christianity, cities, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immortality, Jews, journalism, Judaism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, love, memoir, memory, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, mysticism, ontology, past and future, peace, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, scientism, secular, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, 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, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged afterlife evidence, Australia, Blue Mountains of Australia, bush walk, Christian salvation, conversion, conversion to Judaism, death as the end, death of friends, departed friends, evidence of things unseen, fashionable doubt, fashionable opinion, fashionable skepticism, heaven, how to die, how to live, intelligent hope, kvetching, mikvah, mortality, outdoorsmen, philosophic friendship, Philosophy Department, preparation for death, remembering the departed, rock climbing, self-knowledge, Socrates, soul and body, Spinoza, stiff upper lip, stoicism, surviving death, Sydney University, the afterlife, The New York Book Review, The New York Review of Books, the next life, vale of tears, wilderness trail, wingeing, women friends | 2 Comments

“Shabby”

Posted on July 18, 2017 by Abigail

“Shabby” Not so long ago, I reported here, in nearly ecstatic style, that a highly suitable publisher was expressing the kind of interest in my recently-completed book, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, that was really promising. Then, instead of going … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, autonomy, beauty, bureaucracy, 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, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, Judaism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, nineteenth-century, novels, oppression, past and future, philosophy, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, roles, romance, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, 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 "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", acquisitions editors, anti-semitism, author's plight, authoritarians, authors, auto-theory, book editors, breaking the silence, c.v., changes in publishing, changing mores, children playing, climate of opinion, computer crash, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, confiding, consistent story, conversation topics, crazy-making lies, creative play, default state, editor's budget, editor's interest, editor's rejections, editor's words, fabled editors, fitting the publisher's list, girl talk, good reads, honest dealing, instant gratification, Jewish books, Jewish calendar, Jewish sages, Jewish themes, jilted at the altar, job security, losing the past, manuscript submissions, marketing books, marketing department, memoir, men in taverns, new media rythms, pitching your book, playing outside, pregnant silence, press guidelines, print communication, promising press, publisher's "Jewish list", publisher's budget, publishing guidelines, publishing industry, readers and silence, reading habits, reading public, smoking, state of publishing, suitable publisher, talking about books, teachers and silence, the human norm, the realm of values, timeline, truthfulness, unsupervised play, women friends, world of yesterday, writers and silence | 3 Comments

The Unconscious

Posted on October 25, 2016 by Abigail

The Unconscious It’s Da King. Not Elvis. The Unconscious is the biggest thing around. Everything – everything you can mention – is under its iron heel. What sorts of things can you “mention”? Well, patriarchy, sexism, ageism – you know … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, childhood, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, 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, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, mortality, motherhood, nineteenth-century, ontology, oppression, past and future, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, politics, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, status, status of women, suffering, terror, terrorism, 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, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", appreciation of music, Arcady, car accidents, castration fear, classical music, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, consciousness, country gospel, Da King, defeats and victories, disempower, disempowerment, dramatic lives, driving, Electra, Elvis, empowerment, freeloading, grief's defenses, hegemonic, hegemony, human motivation, ID, incorrigibility, libido, life purposes, life story, machine painting, macro-history, masks, Oedipus complex, pagan revels, penis envy, pleasure principle, Power, psychoanalysis, psychological defenses, psychotherapy, rationales, sangfroid, self-deception, self-knowledge, superconscious, therapeutic cures, therapy, traffic, will-to-power, women friends | Leave a comment

“God and Biography”

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Abigail

“God and Biography” When my journal entry doesn’t give me answers to the questions of my day, I sometimes ask myself: What would it have been like for me to live the same events recorded here, if there were no … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, childhood, Christianity, class, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, mortality, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, power, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, violence, war, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Atheism, Bible, biographical subjects, biography, boarding school, British prep school, British public school, bullies, cancer, Christopher Hitchens, classical historians, clerical opinion, corrupted intellect, covenant, covenantal task, crony capitalist, cutting words, Daniel Dennett, deathbed conversion, debating skill, depravity, deserved tributes, evangelical Christians, fame, fashionable dodge, fashionable opinion, friendship, God, God and Israel, God's existence, gossip, grace of spirit, History, homophobe, horizontal explanation, intellectual fashions, intelligent hope, irresponsible gossip, Islamophobe, King James version, Larry Alex Taunton, Larry Taunton's The Faith of Christopher Hitchens, literary celebrities, literary talent, love of words, Loyalty, medicine for the soul, memoir, moral analysis, moral description, moral interpretation, off the record, Ontology, political correctness, psychoanalytic explanation, public atheism, public debate, public opinion, rabbis, racist, received opinion, religious authorities, Richard Dawkins, Roman empire, Sam Harris, secular history, secular humanism, self-understanding, sexist, sinners, social taboos, spiritual implications, spirituality, spritual interpretation, Tacitus, temple newsletter, the Establishment clause, The Four Horsemen of New Atheism, The New Atheism, theism, theologians, tools of a biographer, truth, uncorrupted intellect, unmentionable questions, vertical explanation, women friends, words as weapons | 2 Comments

“Marriage”

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Abigail

“Marriage” Marriage has always seemed to me a great mystery. Clearly it has a political aspect. To most people, this is at least somewhat apparent. In an earlier American era, the negative politics of single womanhood was quite obvious. Take … Continue reading →

Posted in academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, autonomy, Biblical God, chivalry, class, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, identity, ideology, idolatry, institutional power, Jews, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master, memoir, nineteenth-century, ontology, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, power, psychology, relationships, roles, romance, romantic love, seduction, sex appeal, sexuality, slave, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a positive mystery, actualized potential, aging virgins, Authenticity, “It’s a Wonderful Life, ” Jimmy Stewart the actor, bashert, biochemical criteria for romance, brides-to-be, busted, change in being, Christmas movies, compatibility criteria, compatibility of philosophers, courage, effort in marriage, falling in love, fear, female friendship, Films, friendship, fulfillment, God & marriage, great wives, happily-married wives, human status, imprudent confidences, intimacy, life capital, loss of friendship, loss of rank, loss of status, marital adventures, marital prestige, Marriage, marriage and status, marriage as destined, mystery, mystery of marriage, narrative, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s House of Seven Gables, necessary pains, necessary secrets, negative politics, ontological change, outranking, paranoia, philosophic friendship, philosophic papers, philosophic prestige, politics of marriage, positive power, rabbinic view of marriage, realistic fear, risks in marriage, romantic eligibility, Salem witch trials, secret of marriage, self-integration, single womanhood, social prestige, social status, spinsters, status of women in Muslim world, suppressed possibilities, talking it out, Texas panhandle, the feminine condition, threatening candor, unearned status, unmarried women, Upper East Side, virgins, wedding rings, white nights, women friends, Yoga centers | 2 Comments

“Women Friends”

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Abigail

“Women Friends” The Ariadne’s Thread that connects one episode of one’s life to the next is provided by our women friends – the ones to whom our stories can be told. I have a high school friend (let us call … Continue reading →

Posted in academe, art, culture, femininity, feminism, friendship, gender balance, life and death struggle, literature, philosophy, psychology, relationships, social conventions, the examined life, the problematic of woman | Tagged "Three Coins in the Fountain", 1950's, Ariadne's Thread, beauty, bitterness, D.H. Lawrence, diaphram, Ernest Hemingway, female relationships, Feminism, ideology, Italians, jeune fille en fleure, literary club, Marcel Proust, Mary McCarthy, mental breakdown, Mr. Right, public feminists, Samuel Butler, The Group, The Left, virginity, women friends, wunderkind, youth, zen | 3 Comments

Tag Archives: women friends

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