Anxiety: A Philosophical Guide

How philosophy can teach us to be less anxious about being anxious by understanding that it’s an essential part of being humanToday anxiety is usually thought of as a pathology the most diagnosed and medicated of all psychological disorders. But anxiety isn’t always or only a medical condition. Indeed many philosophers argue that anxiety is a normal even essential part of being human and that coming to terms with this fact is potentially transformative allowing us to live more meaningful lives by giving us a richer understanding of ourselves. In Anxiety Samir Chopra explores valuable insights about anxiety offered by ancient and modern philosophies—Buddhism existentialism psychoanalysis and critical theory. Blending memoir and philosophy he also tells how serious anxiety has affected his own life—and how philosophy has helped him cope with it.Chopra shows that many philosophers—including the Buddha Kierkegaard Nietzsche Freud and Heidegger—have viewed anxiety as an inevitable human response to existence: to be is to be anxious. Drawing on Karl Marx and Herbert Marcuse Chopra examines how poverty and other material conditions can make anxiety worse but he emphasizes that not even the rich can escape it. Nor can the medicated. Inseparable from the human condition anxiety is indispensable for grasping it. Philosophy may not be able to cure anxiety but by leading us to greater self-knowledge and self-acceptance it may be able to make us less anxious about being anxious.Personal poignant and hopeful Anxiety is a book for anyone who is curious about rethinking anxiety and learning why it might be a source not only of suffering but of insight.