An Essay on Existential Anxiety

Psychological and neurological studies speak of three “prisons” for us human beings. The first prison is the prison of our “hidden prejudices,” the fact that our lives as humans conform to certain unconscious beliefs. These unconscious beliefs gradually turn into prejudices (such as racism) that, even when we recognize them as wrong, do not easily leave a person’s being. The second prison is the prison of “emotions.” It is a mistake to oppose rational knowing (reason) and emotion. Neurological studies show that our rational and emotional states are so intertwined that we cannot even employ our rationality without emotions and feelings. We live in the prison of emotions, and there is no escape or deliverance. Nevertheless, these same emotions muddy many of our judgments and must be limited and corrected. Emotions also help us act more quickly in everyday choices and decision-making. If our existence were pure rationality, many of our cost-benefit analyses might perhaps take forever! The final prison is our “embodiment.” The mind and mentality of us humans cannot be considered separate from the human body and flesh. If we humans had a different body and flesh, we would have a different mind and mentality. Our embodied mind limits our beliefs about the surrounding world. Right-handed people do not necessarily think like left-handed people. It is as if we are also imprisoned within our own bodies. Knowing these three prisons is a prelude to knowing our existential condition. Until we know with what psyche, brain, and mind we live, we cannot understand where many of our anxieties, apprehensions, fears, and psychological distortions come from.

We and Anxiety

Chekhov was right that people would become better if we showed them what they resemble. In this essay, with the intention of understanding ourselves ever better, we address one of the existential concepts we deal with on a daily basis; namely, the concept of anxiety. We begin with the metaphor implicit in the concept of anxiety as a force and then turn to the types of anxiety. Rollo May, the American existential psychologist, considered anxiety to be of two kinds: normal (natural) anxiety and existential anxiety. For Rollo May, anxiety is like a force that comes toward us, assaults us, and sets something into motion and agitation. Fundamentally, it is the very nature of emotions that, in many instances, they assault us without our being aware of it. Normal anxiety is transient and even plays an evolutionary and preservative role. For example, Freud believed that civilization is the product of our primal human anxiety and fear. On the other hand, in existential anxiety, the individual, in Rollo May’s terms, arrives at a kind of conflict with themselves. If we assume that we are faced with two “selves,” in existential anxiety these two “selves” grapple with one another, such that it is as if one aspect of our existence rebels against another aspect of our existence and declares it alien. Freud also believed that when one self makes an irrational demand of the other self, the individual becomes anxious. In truth, a kind of self-alienation seems to surge within the anxious individual; the person’s existence is split in two, and a stranger takes the place of the self. Existential conditions generally seep into us unconsciously and take up residence within our being so thoroughly that they become one with our existence. This meaning of anxiety cannot be equated with fear. For this reason, existential anxiety can also be defined in another way: one meaning can be traced back to the myth of Adam and Eve, and the idea that from the moment human beings came into existence, their existence was bound up with anxiety and their nature was mingled with anxiety. The other meaning of existential anxiety is intertwined with “death,” “decay,” “nothingness,” and “non-being.” We humans experience decay day by day and are no longer the person we once were. It is precisely in this sense that Kierkegaard considered anxiety to be the fear of nothing, and Tillich summarized the foundation of anxiety as the existential awareness of non-being. For the treatment of anxiety, turning to the teachings of the Greek philosophers (the Stoics and Epicureans) will be helpful. These philosophers believed that what troubles us is not the events themselves, but our feeling and opinion about them. They also invited us to turn to the concepts of contentment (ataraxia) and simplicity. Nietzsche was right that philosophers are physicians of culture. We are in need of philosophical therapy in order to learn how to think correctly. Many of our human anxieties stem from not thinking correctly. The exercises found in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are also of great importance in this regard.

Anxiety of Loneliness

We said that emotions bring disharmony; they disturb our psychological equilibrium and lead to anxiety. It may not be far wrong to say that the philosophy of existentialism also began with an anxiety: it is recounted that when Kierkegaard realized he was growing old and had added nothing to this world, he was stirred to live differently, think differently, and be different! The anxiety arising from aging and death might be considered the existential cause of the philosophy of existentialism. In truth, it is two "nothings" that constitute the bulk of our anxieties: "nothing at all" and "no one at all." The first is the anxiety of death, and the second is the anxiety of loneliness. Of course, there is disagreement among philosophers and psychologists as to which of these two is the primary source of our anxieties. If existential philosophers disagree on many matters, they are at least united on one thing: that "man is ruthlessly alone." Psychologists and philosophers (Rollo May and Irvin Yalom) speak of several types of loneliness: physical loneliness; non-physical loneliness; interpersonal loneliness, intrapersonal loneliness, and existential loneliness. In interpersonal loneliness, isolation occurs and the individual becomes separated from others. In intrapersonal loneliness, although the individual is not isolated, the various parts of their being drift apart (what Freud called Isolation). It is as if the individual suffocates themselves and becomes "alienated" from themselves. By eliminating themselves, the individual can no longer discern what they believe, because they see all their moments as dependent on others. But existential loneliness: at the depth of all separations lies a deeper and more fundamental loneliness that relates to our connection with existence. This loneliness persists despite connections with others and oneself. Existential loneliness is like a valley that points to a separation from being. As an example, it suffices to contemplate the existential phenomenon of death. In Heidegger's interpretation, death is the loneliest existential human experience, which no one is able to share with another. Erich Fromm (in the books The Art of Loving and Escape from Freedom) believes that becoming aware of existential loneliness is the origin of all human anxieties and creates the most fundamental apprehension for the human being. The apprehension of loneliness emerges when we understand that we enter this world alone and leave it alone. In the meantime, no matter how hard we try to draw close to one another, we realize that "union is impossible; there is always a distance." We try to connect with others, but at the same time we realize that we are still alone and can never become one with ourselves or others. Existential loneliness teaches us that, in Heidegger's terms, we are "uncanny" in this world, or in Camus's terms, "strangers." When the individual (Dasein) becomes entangled in the apparent, everyday, and misleading world and loses their existential situation, then anxiety (about death) makes them aware of loneliness. As Martin Buber noted, existential loneliness is always present and diffused in the air. It is we who sometimes turn off our receivers. Nevertheless, we are compelled to create a world for ourselves; to keep busy and practice heedlessness. It is as if a theater is underway, but suddenly the curtains rise, loneliness seeps in, and the tragic nature of life assaults us. The cost of our growth and development after being separated from the mother's womb is loneliness. If the fear of loneliness were constantly in our conscious domain, we could not live a normal life. Loneliness must be properly repressed so that we may have comfort. Now, with this preamble, what is to be done? If nothing eliminates our loneliness and we are ultimately partners in our own lonelinesses, what is the solution and what should we do? First, we must not panic! It is true that each of us is like a solitary ship caught in a dark and foggy sea, but at least we are all alone together and we are all caught in this terror together. It is enough to see the lights of each other's ships and to touch each other's loneliness. Second, it can perhaps be said that the most important response that philosophers, psychologists, and theologians have given to the existential problem of loneliness is love. From Maslow, Yalom, and Fromm to Buber, Jalal al-Din Rumi, and Jesus son of Mary... they have more or less reached a single conclusion and all believe that love can penetrate human loneliness and build a bridge from one existence to another. Of course, love also has modes and aspects; its most important aspect is that the individual must practice loving, not being loved. It was not in vain that Fromm said the ability to be alone is a conط توانایی عشق ورزیدن است.

Death Anxiety

Few thinkers can be found who, throughout their intellectual life, have not been seized by this weighty intellectual problem. From Plato and Aristotle to Hume, Schopenhauer, Heidegger, Freud, Camus, and others... when they contemplated death, they shared at least one commonality: that there is no escape from death! In Heidegger's terms, death is the most certain possibility that occurs for us in life! Many people, in harmony with existentialist philosophers, have undergone the experience that death is one of the most fundamental anxieties. In fact, one of the most important consequences of death-awareness and death anxiety is the feeling of homelessness and alienation that envelops us. But it seems that contemplation on death is one of the facets of existential therapy; that is, death-awareness can help us understand anxiety. Creating a broad transformation in our perspective reduces the level of this anxiety. We humans, from childhood, establish a metaphor between sleep and death and develop a primary understanding of death. It is this very primary understanding that makes us anxious; anxious that we currently "exist" but a day will come when we are not. It is as if death sits somewhere, watching us, but suddenly makes for us, and after that, there is no fleeing or escape from it. This awareness of the inevitability of death and the desire to continue living creates an existential conflict for us and places us, in the philosophers' terms, in a "boundary situation." Hegel was right that the history of philosophy is an account of humanity's confrontation with death. Philosophizing and philosophical reflection can prepare a person for death and teach them how to die. The secret of this is that the thought of death is redemptive. When we learn how to live well, we will learn how to die well, and vice versa. It was not without reason that Augustine believed that in the confrontation with death, a person is born. Life and death are so intertwined that one is understood under the shadow of the other. The colors of life are only discernible against a black background. Socrates' famous saying that "the unexamined life is not worth living" should be understood in this sense: when someone has not properly understood the meaning of life, it is as if they are dead, and "do not pray over one who, in my judgment, has not died." One who does not experience a good life cannot face death. Our human terror of death is the terror of dying accompanied by unlived lives. Psychologists have also shown us that when satisfaction with life is greater among people, the experience of death is less troublesome. Death anxiety has an inverse relationship with the level of life satisfaction. Nietzsche said that what becomes ripe and mature desires death. It is the unripe who look upon death with terror. A human being endures in the face of death only if they have lived life to the fullest. A final point is that the thought of death and death-awareness brings about "de-identification," meaning it reveals the superfluous aspects of a person's character. The individual realizes which matters do not belong to them and what their true self is; it changes and shapes the individual's perspective on life and the structure of their life.

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References:

Brownstein, M. and Saul, J., (ed.), 2016, Implicit Bias and Philosophy, Oxford University Press. Buber, M., 1965, Between Man and Man, New York: Macmillan. Buber, M., 1970, I and Thou, New York: Charles Scribner. Frankl, V., 1969, The Will to Meaning, Cleveland: New American Library. Freud, S., 1953, “The Interpretation of Dreams”, Vo. IV, in Standard Edition, London: Hogarth Press. Freud, S., 1957, “Thoughts for the Times on War and Death”, Vol. XIV in Standard Edition, Hogarth Press. Freud, S., 1959, “Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety”, Vol. XX in Standard Edition, London: Hogarth Press.

Fromm, E., 1941, Escape from Freedom, New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Fromm, E., 1956, The Art of Loving, New York: Bantam Books. Heidegger, M., 1962, Being and Time, New York: Harper & Row. Jung, C., 1933, Modern Man in Search of a Soul, New York: Harcourt. Kierkegaard, S., 1957, The Concept of Dread, Princeton University Press.

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PDF file of this article in Sepideh Danayi Magazine

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An Essay on Existential Anxiety

Published in the latest issue of Sepideh Danayi Magazine, 117-118

Author: Hossein Dabbagh, Hossein Dabbagh holds a PhD in Moral Philosophy (with a focus on Moral Psychology and Neuroscience). He is currently an affiliated assistant professor at the Iranian Institute of Cognitive Science and the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Qatar. His books include Permissible in Truth (author) and The Mind's Laboratory (translator), published by Hermes Publishing.

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