ON BEING AUTHENTIC What does it mean to be true to myself?    An issue for reflectionWHAT DOES IT MEANTO BE TRUE TO MYSELF? “This man is so authentic!”  “That girl is fake, a phony!”  “I will not listen to them – I must be true to myself!” What does it mean to be authentic, or true to myself? Who should I be true to? Who do I betray when I am inauthentic, or fake? Who is my true “I”? When...

Henri Bergson (1859-1941) THEMES ON THIS PAGE:  1. CONSCIOUSNESS IN CONSTANT CHANGE 2. TIME AND THE SELF 3. INTUITION AND INTELLECT 4. AUTHENTICITY  Henri Bergson (1859-1941) was an important French philosopher, extremely influential at the beginning of the 20th century, and a Nobel Prize winner in literature. He was born near Paris to a Jewish family, but as a teenager he lost his faith. He did his PhD in philosophy at the University of Paris, and his doctoral thesis was “Time and Free Will,”...

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) was born in Germany to a Jewish family and studied philosophy at several universities. She was a student of Heidegger at Marburg University and of Husserl at Freiburg University, and wrote her doctoral dissertation at Heidelberg University under the guidance of Jaspers. Since she was Jewish, she escaped Germany in 1933, and then escaped occupied France in 1940, and ended up in the USA, where she taught at several universities until her death. She wrote on a variety...

>GEORGES BATAILLE   Sexuality as death Georges Bataille (1897-1962) was a French intellectual who wrote many essays in philosophy and other fields. He studied at École Nationale des Chartes in Paris, and then worked occasionally as a librarian. He published extensively, founded several journals and literary groups, and at different stages was interested in different approaches to philosophy and art. He often wrote essays, novels, and poems on socially “inappropriate” topics such as torture, pornography, and bodily fluids. He died at the...

G.E.M. Anscombe – How Wittgenstein cured me Elizabeth Anscombe (1919-2001) (usually called G.E.M. Anscombe), was an important British philosopher in the analytic tradition. She was born in England, and at the age of 14 converted to Catholicism, to which she remained devout all her life. She married a fellow philosopher, Peter Geach, while studying classics and philosophy at Oxford. She then studied at Cambridge University and took classes with Wittgenstein, who influenced deeply her way of philosophizing. She later became a...

Abraham Heschel (1907-1972) THEMES ON THIS PAGE:  1. THE INEFFABLE  2. CREATING HIGHER NEEDS  3. RADICAL AMAZEMENT Abraham Heschel (1907-1972) was a Jewish American thinker, rabbi, philosopher, and activist of social justice. He was born in Poland, and then studied at the University of Berlin. He was briefly arrested by the Gestapo, then deported to Poland, which he managed to leave just before the Nazi invasion. Eventually he went to the USA, where he became an influential thinker both within the...

John DeweyTHEMES ON THIS PAGE: 1. EXPERIENCE 2. PLAYFULNESS VERSUS WORK 3. MORAL WISDOM 4. VIRTUES John Dewey was an American thinker known for his “pragmatist” approach to philosophy in general, and especially to philosophy of education. He grew up in Vermont, USA, and later received his doctorate at John Hopkins University (Baltimore, Maryland). He taught philosophy at the University of Michigan, University of Chicago, Columbia University, and elsewhere. He published hundreds of articles and dozens of books on a variety...

MARTIN FOSS Death as a sacrifice for a higher life Martin Foss (1889-1968) was a German-born philosopher who is now often neglected. He was born in Berlin, and studied philosophy and law in Europe. Being Jewish, he left Germany after the rise of Hitler to power, and for four years traveled secretly between Paris and Berlin, working against the Nazis. He then moved with his family to the USA, with the help of the Quaker community, and taught philosophy at Harvard...

MARTIN BUBER (1878-1965) THEMES ON THIS PAGE: 1. I-IT AND I-YOU2. THE SPHERE OF THE “BETWEEN”3. INCLUSION AND DIALOGUE4. WITH ANIMALS AND PLANTS5. WITH IDEAS4. WITH GOD Martin Buber (1878-1965) was a Jewish Austrian-born Israeli philosopher, writer, and an activist of cultural Zionism. He was born in Austria, became a professor in Frankfurt, but after the rise of Nazism left for Israel (then Palestine, under British mandate). He wrote on Hassidism and mysticism, but is best known for his dialogical philosophy,...

ROMANTIC LOVESEX   TOPIC: ROMANTIC LOVE SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR Woman’s way of loving Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, and political activist, and was one of the first women to study at the Sorbonne. During her studies she met Jean-Paul Sartre, and the two became life-long friends, intellectual companions, as well as lovers who maintained an open erotic relationship, sometimes in trio with a third woman. She wrote many novels and essays, and was also involved in...

    ALBERT CAMUS Revolt against the absurd death Albert Camus (1913-1960) was an important French existentialist philosopher and novelist. He was born in French Algeria to poor parents and studied philosophy at the University of Algiers. He then moved to France, where he worked as a journalist in several newspapers. At different periods of his life he was associated with communist, anarchist, democratic, and human rights circles. He married twice, although he also had many extra-marital affairs. During World War II...

ISAIAH BERLIN Freedom from and freedom to Sir Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) grew up in Latvia and Russia, but because of anti-Semitism his Jewish family moved to Britain in 1921. He became a philosophy professor at Oxford University, and is popularly known for his essay “Two concepts of liberty.”  The following passages are adapted from a famous essay by Isiah Berlin, "Two Concepts of Liberty," delivered at Oxford University in England in 1958, and published later. The essay has been influential in...

Simone Weil was a Jewish-born French spiritual philosopher, and was also a political activist with communist and anarchist leanings. She studied philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, and taught philosophy at a secondary school. She took a year off to work as a manual worker at a factory...
On Love

Jean-Paul Sartre My true self is my freedom to define myself Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) was an important French existentialist philosopher, politica...

Erich Fromm was a German-born Jewish psychologist, psychiatrist, and philosopher. He did his doctorate in sociology, and then studied psychiatry and practiced it. After the rise of the Nazis he left Germany, and practiced and taught in New York, Vermont, Mexico City, Michigan, and ...
On Love