Absolutely Normal
During one of our nights in California, I had a vivid dream. A guru-like figure, sitting very still, illuminated from within, said to me in a voice one did not question: You are absolutely normal. A...
22 Jul 20227min
Intellectual Women
Ugh. What a subject! I guess I’m one, but it doesn’t sound like a fun topic. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the...
20 Jul 20229min
Valentine's Day
The twin polarities of yearning and nostalgia have vanished out of my life. My whole past swims into view – I could see where I’d been and why – under the protective shield provided by loving and bein...
15 Jul 202210min
Places
“There are no places anymore.” Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Pri...
13 Jul 20229min
Peace
Peace! Who doesn’t want it? (Well, lots of people, apparently.) Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A ...
8 Jul 20228min
Peer Pressure
No one can resist peer pressure. Such is the judgment of Peter Berger, sociologist of knowledge. To this generalization, I am no exception. For that reason perhaps, peer pressure interests me. Abig...
6 Jul 20229min
Combat
I’ve been in a number of fights in my life – to keep my job, to save the college’s core curriculum, to have legal access to my father’s papers, for instance – and haven’t lost ‘em all. Despite experts...
1 Jul 20228min
Brokenness
We know when a shattered vase is reparable and what sort of glue repairs it. We also pretty much know when the vase is beyond repair and must be discarded. In the human case, what’s broken seems alway...
29 Jun 202210min
