Dear Abbie - The Non-Advice Podcast

“Hello foot? Can you hear me? Have you got anything to say to me?  What’s wrong with you?” 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 Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks .  Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “ Dear Abbie: The Non-A...

A small group of Quakers has held what they call a “vigil” once a week in the central square of our small town. They hold up placards that demand “Justice for” or “Freedom for” Palestinians. I haven’t seen the name “Israel” on any of these placards, but it’s clearly an anti-Israel demonstration, if it’s anything. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City...

Could I (given the power) do a better job than God, faced with some spectacle that pains me utterly? Or do I agree with God that we human beings have to live with our bad choices, else we can’t learn from the intimate course of our lives and from the lives of others? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York.  She is the author of...

Fran, my therapeutic riding teacher, told me I have “a beautiful physique” on a horse and could qualify for the International competitions in “para-dressage” (dressage for the handicapped). People compete in those events who are paralyzed from the waist down, missing an arm, and so forth. Compared to those entrants, riding with one stirrup and the other foot good for nothing, which is what I do, a...

The underdog has flipped the script and become — however briefly or protractedly — top dog. 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 Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks .  Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “ Dear Abbie: The Non-...

Most of us feel that we can’t allow tenderness to visit us for more than a few moments at a time. After that, we let it translate into diatribe and counter-diatribe, or into that longing for transcendent purity whose real theme is, Get me out of here ! 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...

I’ve been reading a book with the rather haunting title, Beyond the Ashes: Cases of Reincarnation from the Holocaust . The author, Yonassan Gershom, is a rabbi who is well versed in the kabbalistic, mystical strain within Judaism. His book concerns cases of individuals, Jewish and Gentile, who have spoken to him about what seem like “memories” of having perished in the Holocaust when they were chi...

Some will think I am kidding or being sarcastic, but it is a fact that I have the greatest sympathy for anti-Semites. I believe that there is something wrong with them. Even when they look normal, there is something wrong. It’s mental and they have great trouble controlling it. Sooner or later, it controls them. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City...

What is this power – of attraction without an object? Why does it seem almost more powerful than a nourishing reality? As if people are not seduced by a seducer – but by seduction itself, which cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss … ? 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 Pu...

Lately I’ve been reading a book with the charming title, Entre Nous: A Woman’s Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl. The author, Debra Ollivier, was married to a Frenchman and lived there ten years. We owe her a vote of thanks for her pointers and the musings prompted by them. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York.  She is th...

A fair amount of living-and-learning may have that character, of things getting released to the habitats where they belong. 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 Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks .  Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly c...

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. 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 Prize nominee, now appearing in an exp...

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 author of A Good Look at Evil , a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks .  Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “ Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column ,...

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 being loved.  . . 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 Prize nominee, now ap...

“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 Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks .  Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “ Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column ,”  where she explores the situation of women....

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 Good Look at Evil , a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks .  Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “ Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column ,”  where she...

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. 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 Prize nominee, now appearing in an expande...

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 forecasting that I must lose, I did win some. 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 ,...

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 always to call for repairs – whether the fix-up is available or not. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York.  She is the author of A Go...

If we are put here on earth to learn, what else in my life exhibits that process of putting the pieces together? Did I ever put together the pieces of the man/woman game? 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 Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and a...

I always wanted to grow up to be a great lover, a famous saint or – if it could be arranged – both. 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 Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks.  Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “Dear Abbie: Th...

Life shakes us up frequently. If you wear a lot of armor, you won’t feel it as often as I do, but the seismic shake-ups have a way of breaking through any defenses we have. 

Rest, as I’ve said before in these columns, is hard for me. I don’t know when it got to be so hard. It seems one of the downsides of growing up but, since I’m not in favor of growing up and have tried (wherever possible) not to do it, a more careful retracing of the footsteps might give some clues.

When I was a small child, I had a recurrent nightmare in which someone was attacking me. I needed to scream for help but couldn’t, because no sound came out. I would try and try to scream, but still nothing. Just little pockets of air.

The other day, a young woman walked for ten hours through the streets of New York while her associate, walking in front, managed somehow to film her pilgrimage. What did she find? About 100 instances of street harassment.