Anxiety – A Philosophical Guide

The thesis of this interesting work is that philosophy can teach us to be less anxious about being anxious by understanding that anxiety is an essential constitutive part of the human condition, with our consciousness of mortality – specifically, anxiety is more than a medical condition. In this book, the author blends his own experience of anxiety stemming initially from the sudden death of his father, with an extensive philosophical analysis. Anxiety is more than fear and worry and can be construed in multiple ways and through many disciplines. He begins with the impermanence and dukkha of Buddhism, moving on to an extensive treatment of 19th and 20th century European existentialists – Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and Tillich. These thinkers are characterised on the one hand by a response of faith, and on the other by an existential despair of nothingness. The author is in the second camp, anticipating oblivion after death (‘Once I am dead I will be nothing’). Missing from his perspective is any understanding of the mystical experience of love; nor does Viktor Frankl make an appearance.

The author also deals with the Freudian psychoanalytic theory and issues of conflict and repression. Finally, he addresses what he calls materialist alienation found in the writings of Karl Marx and Herbert Marcuse, who suggest that ‘anxiety is the human response to the dehumanising and alienating material conditions of social life,’ which we are challenged to transform. The final chapter is about living with anxiety, and provides some sound advice, including the spiritual practice of attending to the present moment and cultivating flow; he could also have mentioned service to others. He is rightly critical of the cultural over-prescription of medication, and there is an inner turn in his work. On a wider front, we now have ecological anxieties and even grief at the potential loss of future (not mentioned here). Compounding this is the orchestration of continuous states of emergency (see the work of Kees van der Pijl) with a view to making us more anxiously compliant and accepting of centralised policies on offer. The answer to this has to lie in our attitude, values, and daily practice and relationships. We are all potentially capable of maintaining our inner freedom.