This links to Kierkegaard’s earlier comments about genius. The other point made in the above is the greater the human the greater the anxiety. I tend to agree with Kierkegaard here on that humans are combination of mind and body, to me it seems the best way of dismissing the older binary view that differentiates between the two. Humans are also a combination of finitude and infinitude because of their synthetic nature. Beasts (body/material) and angels (mind/spiritual) can not get anxious like humans because they are not a synthesis. What has this to do with anxiety? Well, Kierkegaard writes that ‘as a beast or an angel, a human being could not be made anxious’. Humans are a synthesis of mind and body and are not composed of two separate parts, like in the Cartesian view. Firstly, it highlights Kierkegaard’s insistence throughout the book that human beings are a mixture of mind and body supported by spirit.

He states that it ‘through being a synthesis the human being can me made anxious, and the more profoundly, the greater the human being.’ There are several points made in this instance. Kierkegaard also makes some other observations about anxiety. Anxiety only depends on the potentialities of the future- if something from the past is making us anxious it is only because it may influence what lies ahead. This point seems obvious, but it is nevertheless pivotal to still state it. Kierkegaard also comments that anxiety is future driven. Anxiety arises from the possibilities in the world. Therefore, the presence of free will causes anxiety because we can make any decision we want. Kierkegaard writes ‘anxiety is the dizziness of freedom’ and later states ‘anxiety is constantly to be conceived here in terms of freedom. One idea that I found particularly engaging is that anxiety is the result of freedom.

On the other hand, its comments on anxiety are still sometimes thought-provoking. Yet in this post I shall still discuss the observations I found most interesting and useful, alongside other ideas which were present throughout the text. Did the book do this? Unfortunately, apart from a few observations, it generally did not provide a complete answer, in my opinion, on how to approach anxious situations. I am a firm believer in the idea that philosophy should have a practical impact. I bought this book hoping to find a philosophical approach to anxiety which may help with that state of mind which we all sometimes find ourselves in. Nevertheless, the focus on ‘anxiety’ is an interesting one.

Concepts such as ‘sin’ and ‘guilt’ are found throughout and it is not always easy understanding what Kierkegaard means when engaging with the Christian faith. I must admit approaching this post that I found this book a challenging, but equally rewarding, book. In this post I shall discuss my experience of reading Søren Kierkegaard’s ‘The Concept of Anxiety’, also sometimes known as ‘The Concept of Dread’.

Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs