Fear and anxiety are very common yet easily disregarded. "It is a feeling of being in the world as a whole, of everything and nothing in particular" this very quote stuck out to me, Critchley is speaking about anxiety. That emptiness, that strange feeling we get so randomly yet very often. It's when you're sitting in your room and begin to feel nervous, very worried.. At the simple idea of your thoughts. Unlike fear which is being actively frightened by something. As Critchley said " Imagine that I have a peculiar fear of bears. If a huge bear showed up at the door of my apartment, I would feel terror. And if the bear suddenly retreated into the street, my fear would evaporate." Fear is that active feeling, that jump, or that adrenaline that rushes through your body in a moment of vulnerability, then disappears in the blink of an eye.
Critchley says philosophy is to learn how to die. To know in able to feel free we have to accept death. With the pandemic in motion, we begin to realize none of us are prepared for death. Our death or even anyones around us. Critchley says "A disease everywhere and nowhere, imprecisely known and, as yet, untreatable. And most of us have the feeling of having been swimming in a sea of virus for many weeks now, possibly months. But perhaps beneath the trembling of fear lies a deeper anxiety, the anxiety of our mortality, our being pulled toward death. And this is what we might try to seize hold of, as a condition of our freedom."
Overall, I do agree with Critchley. His points about fear and anxiety are valid and meaningful. Everyone definitely suffers from fear in their life and they know it, anxiety on the other hand is something people sometimes ignore even when it's spelled out right in front of them. Critchley uses examples and phrases throughout the article that make it easy to understand and even easier to discuss.
Hello Olivia, I think your response was great. I like how you explained the differences between fear and anxiety and I thought your organization was good. I like the summary, how you connected to the rest of the blog and finished off with a simple final sentence.
ReplyDeleteHi Liv,
ReplyDeleteA couple suggestions for future blog posts:
1. Be sure to introduce any work that you are referencing that was written by someone else. In this post for instance, you want to tell your readers which piece by Critchley you are referencing.
2. Try to minimize the number and length of direct quotations you use. Instead, try to charitably and accurately paraphrase what the author said (giving the author credit of course, so as to avoid plagiarism). This will help you test your own understanding of whatever source you are referencing. I often don't really understand something I've read until I can put in in my own words. It will also allow us to hear your voice on these issues! In general, direct quotations are appropriate when you need to demonstrate that an author said what you are claiming that author said (that is, the quotation is serving as a piece of evidence for a point you are making), or if the particular wording of the quote is important for your point. Otherwise, try to paraphrase the content in your own words.