Angst

Graphics courtesy of HealioOpens in new window Angst is a German word meaning “fear” or “anxiety.” In English, it is used to mean intense anxiety or distress. In both psychology and existential philosophy, fear and anxiety are distinguished. FearOpens in new window tends to be focused on a particular object or situation and can be reduced or even eliminated. AnxietyOpens in new window tends to be more general and diffuse and is harder to reduce.

Existential philosophers discussed angst, creating unique descriptions and speculations about its origins. The 19th-century Danish philosopher Soren KierkegaardOpens in new window, in The Origins of Dread, published in 1844, used the term to describe extreme despair and uncertainty in people caused by their state of freedom to choose. Whereas animals are driven by instinct, humans are not, and along with freedom and consciousness comes responsibility.

According to KierkegaardOpens in new window, this responsibility is to engage with the world. Engaging with the world means that one is not playing safe, simply doing what is socially acceptable and comfortable.

Engagement is uncomfortable, creating uncertainty and anxietyOpens in new window. But this engagement is necessary for a meaningful life, and thus angst itself is typically a sign that an individual is living authentically.

The 20th-century German philosopher Martin HeideggerOpens in new window has a different view of the concept of angstOpens in new window.

Unlike Kierkegard, Heidegger turned away from religion, and to HeideggerOpens in new window, angst did not signify spiritual responsibility in the same way that it did for Kierkegaard. For Heidegger, angst was a feeling more related to existence because it is fear of nonexistence and of nothingness.

Since, in angst, the fear is not directed toward a particular object, when asked what one fears, he will truthfully respond “I don’t know” or “nothing.” At the same time, he will feel anxiety and dread.

To better understand what Heidegger meant by angst, one has to understand what he meant by nothing or nothingness. Rather than meaning the negation of objects or existence, a feeling of nothingness is more a feeling that objects are alien and uncanny. Feeling angst is similar to feeling fear in the dark, Heidegger said.

Angst occurs in the presence of objects, of the world, but the person experiencing angst feels as if everything is drawing away from him; he feels as if the world, but the person experiencing angst feels as if everything is drawing away from him; he feels as if the world has become alien and indifferent. Heidegger wrote about angst in his 1927 book Being and Time and elaborated on the concept in a 1929 lecture titled “What Is Metaphysics?”