The New Yorker, November 21, 1977.

Abstract:

Reflections about thinking. Writer gives the reasons why she is preoccupied with mental activities: 1) The thoughtlessness of evil as demonstrated by the Nazi Adolf Eichmann at his trial in Jerusalem; 2) What are we doing when we do nothing but think? She says we have rejected the doctrines of the great thinkers of the past. Thus: 1) We may look on the past with new eyes, unburdened by any traditions. 2) Everybody may and should think, not just specialists. She gives Kant’s distinction between “reason” and “intellect”. She discusses Being and Appearance and the relationship of soul and body. She discusses reality and its relationship to the thought process. She discusses the concept of reality and truth as perceived by modern science. She discusses mathematical truth which deal only with thought-things. She discusses the difference between knowledge and thought, especially as expressed by Kant.

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The New Yorker