Confessions of a Young Philosopher
A confession in the Augustinian tradition, but written by a woman.
“I wanted to be conscious of the purposes behind my choices, not let them guide me unawares. It was a point of honor not to profess views if I was not prepared to put them to the test of living them. … Was I fearful? Did I anticipate tragedy, or great suffering at this moment of setting forth? No. I was filled with desire and thought I was ready for anything.” — from Confessions of a Young Philosopher
A remarkable book, “an exceptional confession in the tradition of Augustine and Rousseau, penetrating and transforming.”
— Juliana Geran Pilon, New English Review
David M. Armstrong, Author, Sketch for a Systematic Metaphysics (2010) and Truth and Truthmakers (2004):
“Since the Enlightenment, a number of people have tried to tell the truth about their own lives … Boswell, Rousseau, Stendahl, Celine—are there other women who have tried to do the same? I suppose Augustine was a pioneer. … I think what [Abigail L. Rosenthal has] done is a most splendid and courageous addition to the literature of trying to tell the truth about oneself.”
Cynthia Ozick, Author, Antiquities (2021) and Critics, Monsters, Fanatics, and Other Literary Essays (2016):
“This powerful book will gradually make its way into Bildungsroman-like permanence.”
Bernard Harrison, Author, Blaming the Jews: Politics and Delusion (2020) and What is Fiction For? Literary Humanism Restored (2015):
“In this remarkable and deeply instructive book, a gifted woman philosopher records and criticizes her youthful attempt, as strenuously lived as it is argued, to frame a path through life capable of engaging her talents without denying or distorting her female identity. She explores to the limits of liveability a string of contemporary world-views ranging from romantic love in the French literary manner, by way of Marxist/Castroist political commitment, to a disastrous engagement with a charismatic advocate of ‘Christian Gnosticism.’ … Profoundly philosophical as her argument is, Rosenthal writes with a vigor and liveliness that owe little to the drowsy circumlocutions of much academic prose. The book is a page-turner.”
A Good Look at Evil
“We meet with evil in the ordinary course of experience, as we try to live our life stories. It’s not a myth. It’s a mysterious but quite real phenomenon. How can we recognize it? How can we learn to resist it? … More than broad brush conceptual distinctions are needed. A Good Look at Evil maps the actual terrain… showing how to recognize evil for what it is; the perennial and present threat to a good life. ” — Abigail L. Rosenthal in A Good Look at Evil
Adam Kirsch, Author, The Global Novel: Writing the World in the 21st Century (2016):
“Abigail Rosenthal proposes a new way of understanding one of the oldest mysteries–the nature of evil. Drawing on wide literary and philosophical resources, Rosenthal proposes that narrative self-understanding is the key to a good life. She traces the implications of this idea for understanding various types of evil, including the ultimate evil of Nazi genocide–which, she argues, cannot be understood in Arendtian terms as a kind of banality. Highly personal and original, Rosenthal’s work offers new ways of grappling with some of the largest ethical questions.”
William G. Lycan, Author, Real Conditionals (2001):
“Rosenthal pinpoints the characteristic feature of evil–at least the leading type of evil–that distinguishes it from what is only morally wrong or very, very bad. It is based on her basic notion of an ideal ‘life story’ or plot. She extends both concepts from individual victims to races and populations as victims. [T]here is nothing banal or ordinary about evil, the intentional disrupting of the victim’s ‘ideal thread’ or plot. … In a fascinating new essay, Rosenthal revisits Hannah Arendt . . . applying her “plot” concept to Arendt herself in light of what is known about Arendt’s long intellectual and personal relationship with Heidegger. Rosenthal argues that despite a splendid recovery from early adversity, Arendt went on to ‘spoil’ her own life story. And in a concluding piece, Rosenthal shows from her own experience how one can have reason to believe that a person’s life story has been co-authored by God.”
Phyllis Chesler, Author, An American Bride in Kabul: A Memoir (2013):
“It is a most compelling and creative work. Rosenthal is analyzing the ‘stories’ that people tell us about themselves, in terms of both their lives and their work. She does so in an effort to understand genocidal evil-doers, both those who perpetrate and collaborate with it and those who cover up such crimes.”
Gale Godwin, Author, Heart: A Personal Journey Through Its Myths and Meanings (2001):
“As a person who wholeheartedly subscribes to the idea that we must be constantly attentive to, and increasingly watchful over, the ‘plots’ of our own unfolding stories, I found Abigail Rosenthal’s a welcome, revealing, and indispensable book about the slippery crevices of the moral life. I hope it is translated into many languages. Everyone should read it.”
Lee Trepanier, Editor, Lexington Book Series Politics, Literature, and Film
“According to Rosenthal, there are two main ways our stories can be derailed: you no longer see further in your own story or your story is thwarted…. The former is banality, while the latter Rosenthal labels evil.”
About Abigail
Abigail Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of CUNY. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now available in an expanded, revised second edition and as an audiobook. Its thesis is that good people try to live out their stories while evil people aim to mess up good people’s stories. Her latest book, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, illustrated by Caroline Church, explores the thesis in her own life. She writes a weekly column for her blog, Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column where she explains why human lives are in fact quite interesting. She’s the editor of the posthumously published Consolations of Philosophy: Hobbes’s Secret; Spinoza’s Way by Henry M. Rosenthal, her father. Some of her articles can be accessed at Academia. She is married to Jerry L. Martin, also a philosopher. They live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
