Professor Anderson, I have read Kierkegaard for 40 years & even hold a few 1sr edition works, and attend the Kierkegaard Circle at University of Toronto. The poinr being i have read every explanation of Kierkegaards concept of Anxiety. Your deconstruction to practical 1st person experience is the most illuminating yet.
@@Nowhy I've seen it happen to others and felt it subjectively so I don’t think it's perspective-locked in a way that defining it would change much about what I said honestly
When the mind runs off after all of the possibilities, the inner body experience is often left to act according to how it's been taught. If I notice I've found my thoughts detached from my feelings and beings then I turn to my breath and focus attention on the actual body-experience of inhale, exhale and hold. Enjoy the ride brothers and sisters, it's totally fine to experience anxiety, fear, excitement and ALL life has to offer 🌎🌍🌏🕊️ For us all 🌌🙏🏼
This is so beautiful. What's great about reading philosophy is that once in a while you can see the same phenomena in a new light, and thus changes your relationship with that phenomena. Eventually, a new life.
I think this form of anxiety, if i'm reading this correctly, is from the enormous, virtually unlimited amount of freedom of possibility we have-infinite really, and we at any given point in time, need to focus our awareness or become consumed in its awe. The realization that our time here is not infinite, so theres that kind of unsettling feeling that we need to choose wisely in how we will select from our infinite possibility. I get this feeling almost constantly, that i get so excited about life and its potential, that i experience a kind of overload of possibility, and often will fail to focus my attention to do one thing impeccably well....and that gives me that angst feeling, since i think i may unconsciously feel my time slipping away.... anyway, just my interpretation of what i get from the way he speaks of this term. so maybe in a sense, it IS a type of fear...a fear of wasting time. thanks for the wonderful analysis as always!🥰
It seems to me that decisiveness is what therefore reduces anxiety, both in this framework and in practical reality to some degree. After all, to decide is to commit oneself to a particular path through the infinitude of potentials, thus (at least in the actor's mind) to reduce the vast scale of those potentials to contingencies upon a path. Those other potentials are no longer "potentials" in the strictest sense, because you have set your mind to something specific. The uncertainties that are left are those that surround the path, which are certainly anxiety inducing (what if I fail?, what if they stop me upon the path?, what if I am stricken ill?, what if I have chosen the wrong path?, etc...), but less anxiety inducing than to stand paralyzed by infinitude. Thus to plan, to decide, and to commit, are the antidotes to anxiety. In my own personal experience, this also rings true. I was paralyzed by possibility when I was young and, accordingly, that was when I was most anxious. Accordingly, I am less anxious now, having committed myself to a path. The remaining anxieties I have are about the fact that I *could be doing* the things I have committed to; which remains, of course, a statement about potentials, vindicating Kierkegaard.
@@TheMLMGold I can answer from my expirience. I was avoiding religious thinkers for long time. I tought that there is no room for philosophy or individuality in any kind of religious concept. Kierkegaard helped me to see that trying to avoid God is trying to avoid a fundamental part of my being. I was like 'oh... Individuality and phylosophy got to the whole new level now when I stopped avoiding Christian concepts. I can't take Sartre serious anymore'. For Kierkegaard one of the main problems about Christianity around us is a huge missunderstanding and banalising of it's meaning, so that religion appears meaningless. He tried to break through empty preaching and get to the existential core of relation between God and man, or man and God, or man and him/herself, or mand with the other man (which is all kinda same to Kierkegaard). Through his books I started to reintegrate the fundamental and long time avoided part of myself. P.S. I'm raised and living in western/Christian culture. Maybe if I were raised in eastern, let's say Buddistic culture, I would not find Kierkegaard so 'eye opening'.
@@vladimirnovakovic8841 yes God is a fundamental part of our being and must be integrated into it. We also need to integrate the parts of ourselves which were dissociated and avoided through trauma like the frightened inner child through somatic feeling, movement/exercise, dialogue, social interaction and purpose. Without feeling safe in the body it is harder to connect with God.
@@TheMLMGold I agree. All is connected in one single human being. And we need to seek that connection, to understand it, to accept it and to live according to it. It's a lifelong challenge. It looks to me that nowdays we tend to set the rules for our existence, to design it's nature. But rules are already there. Even our goals are there in some way. We reather need to discover them (get to know them), than to create or choose them.
anxiety is asking a question, “which action will you take?”. i worry too much about the outcomes of each action rather than just picking one. also forgetting that “no action” is always a possible action too
That is the snare of reflection (which is not a bad thing in itself)... His review/critique 'Two Ages: A Literary Review' goes into this (amongst other text that do the same from another POV) - just don't jump to conclusions before the end..
Anxiety for Kierkegaard is the moment,that brings together the different kinds of time, and really concentrates, synthesize them, but also at the same time, nothing.
It's interesting to notice how nowadays, more than ever I'd say, we tend to refer our anxiety to something and give it attributes. Think of social anxiety, separation anxiety, or the relatively new 'range anxiety' people have about electric vehicles. In a sense you could say that, even though we claim that we understand the world and ourselves better and better as civilization evolves, we insist on misreading this fundamental part of us as humans.
'infinity' not 'immortality', Professor Anderson? and how refreshing it is listen to someone talk about anxiety for ten minutes without using the 'emotion.' you deserve an award!
I'm not sure if I would focus on the possibility itself and nothingness as the centre of Kierkegaard's anxiety. I always interpreted it in such a way the infinite possibilities cause the anxiety due to the fact that one can never be certain of making the right choice and of the best use of one's time. The responsibility of choosing an appropriate route for oneself from the ocean of possibilities weighs heavy. Am I wrong?
Anxiety comes from frustration. We do deserve strive for freedom and self care and care for others ❤❤❤ be blessed and loved and learn loving more and more. Welcome to earth
very cool, thank you. i wasn't aware of his idea of "the moment", and it made me wonder how Kierkegaard's thought might have influenced Rudolf Otto's idea of the "numinous" (in the sense of completely different and awesome i.e. terrifying), and perhaps Eliade's idea of "illud tempus" (in the sense of outside linear time). Or even Demieville's idea of "subitism" in his studies on Buddhism. philosophy is such a fun puzzle
Keirkegaards' mindset differs from most everyday people. What we invariably equate with being anxious as a negative .Positive, if not manifested, has the potential to be achieved, so positive implicit pending on the action the individual decides . On a deeper subconscious level the inversion of our traditional customary way of thinking Keirkegaards indirection of logic creates the Kantian spin or sonic cadence as if the semantics reverberates within the readers consciousness...he ✍️ philosophy with poetic licence making him one of the literary giants
Hi, I love the content of your channel. It's so educational and philosophical. I would like to see you cover spinoza and his philosophy if you get the time to get through the things he discovered
Realisation of Metaphysical nature of possibilities as an cause of anxiety which we see through the actual possibility (actuality) and get overwhelmed and fail to understand stand its an moment to act and nothing beyond. It's like derrida's deconstruct.
🙏 commenting for the algorithm😆 as an old naive hobbyist most all historical philosophy like this is worthwhile to understand because of the brilliant thinking but antiquated… we simply know way more now than a century ago in all disciplines worldwide. Keep up the wonderful work!
I agree with you and i add another thing that anxiety prepares us to bring change inside or outside of the person or go to submissive mode. But always remember such conditions vary from person to person. So if you like seek medical refuge according to your own life game plan. But never surrender to nonsense people in life. Regards
“Leap of faith- yes, but only after reflection. “ so does the anxiety for K come from the reflection of our possibilities? Hence the dizziness of our freedom? Or does it come from the choice of picking between an either/or situation ? Or a culmination of both? Thank you for the great content.
These days I’m very interested in Christian sources of modern psychotherapy. Marsha Linehan is a devout Catholic who cites Christian piety as the source for the skill “radical acceptance” which she links to freedom from suffering. She states “The drive to stop pain no matter the cost is the opposite of freedom.” And I agree-I suspect this is accurate just because avoidance (the opposite of acceptance) distances us from authentic experiences like anxiety. It is interesting that both Linehan and Kierkegaard noticed the paradox of allowing anxiety its due: that without acceptance and the anxiety that comes with it, humans seem unable to cope with their counterfactually biased, inductively tortured, emotional brains. Anxiety/acceptance seem to be both essentially ABOUT freedom and the door TO that freedom.
Religious people aren't supposed to feel any existential anxiety because the answers are already there, it's just whether or not your "faith" is great enough. I love that Kierkegaard spoke of the same isolation and backlash we'd deal with in todays church.
I think a great look for how Christians can approach anxiety is found in ecclesiastes. Written by Solomon, son of David, the "wisest man in history" who knew people personally who spoke with God: "Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?". In essence, even the wise and religious experience existential dread, because faith is not knowing for a fact. I also love Kierkegaard!
Specially only religiotential people feel existential because they have always 2 choices..good or bad..like ebraham...but non religious people are dumb,what ever they do ,not making different😅 ....don't jock around
@@andyrexford12 "supposed to" meaning in its perfect form. Faith is certainty in what's not seen. I can't have faith in my wife but also be very worried she'll cheat. Clearly I just don't trust her
When you talk, it’s like listening to the singing of The Calculus. And just like when I took Calc on school, I had to read it 3 or 4 times b before I got it.
I've been working my way through Kierkegaard's first work, Enten-Eller (either-or) that is about the issue of choice as well. I think one of the main things that is missing from your analysis (although I like your video) is the presence of the ∞: In Enten-Eller there is an addition of the infinite (∞) to the concept of choice, e.g. what if the choice being made is of indefinite duration. From this immediately follows anxiety, i.e. what if I make the wrong choice in an ∞ context. But (my opinion) ultimately if a choice is being made in an ∞ context, the choice itself is infinitesimal so as you report Kierkegaard as saying 'anxiety is nothing' ... i.e. it is in a way meaningless to consider choice at all in an infinite context. In modern geometry there is a concept of the 'point or line at infinity', that basically means that if you go infinitely far in a given direction, you wind up in the same place regardless of the direction, so it doesn't really matter. Anxiety, it seems, is the failure to grasp that.
I feel like anxiety arises from the contention between freedom and limitation. I have the freedom to make a risque joke around a new group of friends, but I develop anxiety due to the acknowledgment that I have the freedom to do such but I am in the limitation of a social context that might shun such humor. Just as Eve develops temptation and anxiety due to the freedom but limitation set by God. But I guess that is the notion of the absurd, a contention that forces us into experience.
was Kierkegaard's concept of spirit ( when he referred to the word ) like traditional concept of spirit/artificial religious concept of spirit ? or like Hegel he made an artificial concept of spirit of his own ?
Upon considering anxiety I think it is potential energy stored in the psyche, searching for expression. Was Special K perhaps the first psychologist? Thanks Professor, for the great video. PS - I guess what I feel on Monday, that dreaded feeling of back to work - is not anxiety but fear - because it is specific? Did I understand that point correctly? Also the talking snake has a role to play in the drama that unfolded in Eden too, no? God awakens choice and freedom, the snake tells Eve a lie, she goes for it and finally Adam gets sucked into the promise of power and knowledge. Is the snake our Ego and Eve our Jungian female half, or what? Talk about a slippery slope. Also, there are no apple trees in that part of the world, we are not reading the original Hebrew, but anyhow I'm headed way off track here, its just a story however you read it. Do you have a video on hating your job but being trapped :) I think the best way to deal with negative emotion that causes suffering is to replace it with a positive one by means of developing a positive narrative. God, who knows all, knows that Adam is going to make the wrong choice (if indeed it was wrong) - what an ass. Adam will have to leave the innocence of a hunter-gatherer existence where he is one-with-nature and develop agriculture, cities, capital and war, surplus and scarcity, law and crime and all of the suffering that goes along with dualism, knowledge, technology and 'civilization'. Our fate was sealed from day one. No real choice at all given our nature it was to be expected (Sapolsky, Sam Harris and others agree, we have no free will which I figured out without a PhD BTW). Our brains make choices but are not free of constraints by any means. Anyhow I digress. To deal with anxiety or fear beware the passive, transcendent path of Buddhism, accepting and submitting, letting go and not judging at least know what you are getting into. Buddhism teaches us to accept suffering but offers no real solution because life must have a purpose and all purpose, all creation is inherently egotistical. Buddhism provides perspective and emotional grounding and addresses the cause of existential anxiety (fear and ego caused by separation and forgetting who we truly are and getting distracted by desire). Buddhism and Hinduism are deep, they are profound and they awaken us to the transitory nature of reality and the illusion of being an individual in the world. But just being awake is not enough as Adam found out. Buddhism is like Aspirin for the soul, it eases the pain but cannot cure it. At least secular Buddhism that is. If you are dumb enough to buy into reincarnation and nirvana, go for it. Taoism teaches balance and the male/female aspect of life as one and the creative energy that emerges from the interplay between the two which is tension and a kind of anxiety that managed by seeing the big picture (the Tao) and by going with the flow, and by participating willingly in the dance and being flexible and knowing that this too will pass. Not bad. Existentialism tells us to take charge of your life and find a purpose, create a purpose, do everything with purpose (my advise is to tell no one what your purpose is) to perform every act with purpose (a bit Zen like). Nietzsche was the answer to Special K but again beware, the purpose you choose is not an end, it is just a path, a place to stand in the cosmic shit show where entropy wins in the end. Try not to become a Nazi or a woke moron along the way. Christianity is an attempt to save Adam, a negative narrative that makes man simply, pathetic and hopeless - we cannot save ourselves, we need a new myth - Jesus to save our sorry asses from ourselves. We are sinners and apart from the God who made us in his image (not egotistical at all this God). No thanks. Which path will you take (1) transcend and struggle to pay your mortgage (2) go with the flow and see where you end up (3) pray to Jesus for forgiveness, good luck with that (4) drink beer and watch football and say F it. (5) create your self and live with purpose. I am Beowulf - the greatest words in the English language. That's how to deal with anxiety. Did I Overthink?
Maybe I'll go to Amsterdam Maybe I'll go to Rome And rent me a grand piano And put some flowers 'round my room But let's not talk about fare-thee-wells now The night is a starry dome And they're playin' that scratchy rock and roll Beneath the Matala Moon
Just wanted to comment on one thing ( though a few have jumped out at me ) Dr. Anderson's specialty is Derrida. The most common reading of the archetypal story of Adam and Eve is that God told Adam and Eve they eat the fruit in the garden but not to eat the fruit from the centre of the garden. The tree of knowledge. The message being knowledge claims to be at the centre ( not God's word) Now jump ahead to Derrida. Derrida is not a fan of logo-central thinking. He goes around it believing it can't be pinned down. That is no different from knowledge as acting out through intellect ( evil serpent ) at the centre of logos opposed to spirit.(God ) the meaning of things through knowledge as the centre opposed to the unknown ( in spiritual understanding that is the anxiety that only a spiritual person can understand. Thanks .
hi ellie I'M buggie I've been researching the concept of anxiety book because I've been involved with anxiety and adhd all my life . for sociological and economic reasons I"ve tried to be a guide on my own all my life and I've done it very successfully untill NOW. what I want to say is that I found out about kierkegaard's existence today and I started researching most of the thoughts he talked about while I was researching . I realized that I accessed them while I was guiding myself and I think I have the potential to develop kierkegaard's thoughts or I dont know maybe somebody ask to me the rıght questıons and maybe a butterfly flaps its wings you know
@@OverthinkPodcastPhilosophy would you be open to giving it a read? I wrote about an alternative interpretation to the existential anxiety from an author that you most probably haven't heard of
There are levels to this (both of his psychological works go into your question).. can't give a definite answer other than, Yes/No; Both/And or Neither/Nor...
i tried to tell my philosophy professor that possibility relates us to infinity and is heavier than actuality but unfortunately it only worked for one assignment
What a great teacher. I normally don’t like the Americans when watching lectures, but this lady is fantastic, very British like, I.e straight to the point. Excellent
I'm have knowledge in Islamic philosophy. I think it's good to have discussion on topics such as anxiety, morality, and so on, in also eastern philosophy viewpoint.
I have never heard discussions of Genesis 3:22 in which God seems to be made uneasy by the fact that Adam and Eve now seem to be like "one of us", some sort of peers, and even expresses a sort of fear that they may eat of the tree of life. And who is "us" anyway?
@@OverthinkPodcastPhilosophy That should have been obvious had I been familiar with the title. I feel embarrassed. I have a question for you. Quick one. I have been interested in learning "ethics in AI". Do you consider that topic a part of philosophy or do you believe strictly that someone from a comp sc./tech background should do study on the said subject? (I am so glad that I can directly ask this from you. Thanks for being so approachable. I love your podcast!)
Thought always generalized, but of course, you are correct, however, it's not a bad introduction to K., if one doesn't know his works. Maybe the best I have seen as of yet, but that could just be me...
You seem to have a very structured life. I am saying that a philosophy can only exist in a very structured life, where false or propaganda identifies of any nature have been formed. Rather in living meaning basically being there you start to see them as some kind of phenomena.
so essentially god tempted adam and eve into sin? i know this isnt kierkegaard's or the video's point but i cant get over the notion that god created and informed adam and eve about the tree just to tempt them into sin aka freedom. could god not perceive human curiosity? or could he not foresee that the devil (also god's creation) would attempt to tempt adam and eve into trying the apple? ik this sounds like edgy atheist shit and that none of this "critique" really even matters because it misses the point of the story, but its just something i cant stop thinking about and something that ultimatly prevents me from beginning to embrace christianity or any religion for that matter. i feel like god is either all knowing (omnipotent) or all-loving, and that it is impossible for him to be both.
I think my anxiety has to do with thinking that others don’t like me or care about me! It makes me talk too much and too fast in social situations… My Orthodox faith tells me these thoughts are logismoi that I can fight with the Jesus Prayer!
I think part of my anxiety is knowing I am connected to God and that He is watching while I can’t feel in that moment that He loves me. Maybe it’s me knowing He is watching me and I instinctively know I’m going to “miss the mark” or sin! Wow! My freedom to choose to not act within His will for me to be virtuous. Although I’ve been an Orthodox ascetic struggler towards Theosis for 8 years, I still choose to behave out of my passions- especially lust for power- instead of submitting my will to His perfect will for me. Next time I feel anxious “in the Moment” I will practice self examination to see what’s going on in my thoughts and will try to choose the good… thanks!
Ok how this started upset me. See I've been annoyed by the fact that there isn't a true synonym for anxiety in Dutch. You need to use multiple words to describe it .. angst is a Dutch / Germanic word, which is one of the words you'd use to describe anxiety but not a synonym... see angst means fear. Not anxiety. And although anxiety includes angst .. I wouldn't call it angst. Then again I'm not sure if the word angst means more in German than it does in Dutch.
Its a bit disappointing that she skips over the Christian aspects of his text, since by her own admission is core to his concept of anxiety. Kierkegaard is a difficult read, so when I tune into these, I want to hear the whole perspective. I know in our secular times this is vogue, but by skipping faith from the outset from a Christian author, aren't we as philosophers tipping the scales towards materialism? I understand the need for brevity in this medium, but viewers should be attuned to what is NOT said as much as what is.
Professor Anderson, I have read Kierkegaard for 40 years & even hold a few 1sr edition works, and attend the Kierkegaard Circle at University of Toronto. The poinr being i have read every explanation of Kierkegaards concept of Anxiety. Your deconstruction to practical 1st person experience is the most illuminating yet.
It is truly wild how quickly one can spiral out once they've gotten lost in that infinity
Look at any dictator who achieves totalitarian power.
From whose POV?
@@Nowhy I've seen it happen to others and felt it subjectively so I don’t think it's perspective-locked in a way that defining it would change much about what I said honestly
When the mind runs off after all of the possibilities, the inner body experience is often left to act according to how it's been taught. If I notice I've found my thoughts detached from my feelings and beings then I turn to my breath and focus attention on the actual body-experience of inhale, exhale and hold.
Enjoy the ride brothers and sisters, it's totally fine to experience anxiety, fear, excitement and ALL life has to offer
🌎🌍🌏🕊️ For us all
🌌🙏🏼
“freedom's actuality as the possibility of possibility”
🔥🔥🔥
“Freedom’s possibility”....so true. The foundation of anxiety seems to me to be staring down a vast infinity of empty space
Not really, more like the possibility to jump into that space.
I think it means too much freedom/choice can be debilitating
@@jiggersotoole7823 Why do you think that? How much is too much?
This is so beautiful. What's great about reading philosophy is that once in a while you can see the same phenomena in a new light, and thus changes your relationship with that phenomena. Eventually, a new life.
Theoretical
I think this form of anxiety, if i'm reading this correctly, is from the enormous, virtually unlimited amount of freedom of possibility we have-infinite really, and we at any given point in time, need to focus our awareness or become consumed in its awe. The realization that our time here is not infinite, so theres that kind of unsettling feeling that we need to choose wisely in how we will select from our infinite possibility. I get this feeling almost constantly, that i get so excited about life and its potential, that i experience a kind of overload of possibility, and often will fail to focus my attention to do one thing impeccably well....and that gives me that angst feeling, since i think i may unconsciously feel my time slipping away.... anyway, just my interpretation of what i get from the way he speaks of this term.
so maybe in a sense, it IS a type of fear...a fear of wasting time.
thanks for the wonderful analysis as always!🥰
Your channel is my daily dose of philosophy. I watch one video every morning with breakfast to stay healthy and feel smart!
You also might enjoy Michael Sugrue, he has a large catalogue.
It seems to me that decisiveness is what therefore reduces anxiety, both in this framework and in practical reality to some degree. After all, to decide is to commit oneself to a particular path through the infinitude of potentials, thus (at least in the actor's mind) to reduce the vast scale of those potentials to contingencies upon a path. Those other potentials are no longer "potentials" in the strictest sense, because you have set your mind to something specific. The uncertainties that are left are those that surround the path, which are certainly anxiety inducing (what if I fail?, what if they stop me upon the path?, what if I am stricken ill?, what if I have chosen the wrong path?, etc...), but less anxiety inducing than to stand paralyzed by infinitude. Thus to plan, to decide, and to commit, are the antidotes to anxiety.
In my own personal experience, this also rings true. I was paralyzed by possibility when I was young and, accordingly, that was when I was most anxious. Accordingly, I am less anxious now, having committed myself to a path. The remaining anxieties I have are about the fact that I *could be doing* the things I have committed to; which remains, of course, a statement about potentials, vindicating Kierkegaard.
Kierkegaard's books changed my life! always happy to see you cover his stuff
In what way?
@@TheMLMGold I can answer from my expirience. I was avoiding religious thinkers for long time. I tought that there is no room for philosophy or individuality in any kind of religious concept. Kierkegaard helped me to see that trying to avoid God is trying to avoid a fundamental part of my being. I was like 'oh... Individuality and phylosophy got to the whole new level now when I stopped avoiding Christian concepts. I can't take Sartre serious anymore'. For Kierkegaard one of the main problems about Christianity around us is a huge missunderstanding and banalising of it's meaning, so that religion appears meaningless. He tried to break through empty preaching and get to the existential core of relation between God and man, or man and God, or man and him/herself, or mand with the other man (which is all kinda same to Kierkegaard). Through his books I started to reintegrate the fundamental and long time avoided part of myself.
P.S. I'm raised and living in western/Christian culture. Maybe if I were raised in eastern, let's say Buddistic culture, I would not find Kierkegaard so 'eye opening'.
@@vladimirnovakovic8841 yes God is a fundamental part of our being and must be integrated into it. We also need to integrate the parts of ourselves which were dissociated and avoided through trauma like the frightened inner child through somatic feeling, movement/exercise, dialogue, social interaction and purpose. Without feeling safe in the body it is harder to connect with God.
@@TheMLMGold I agree. All is connected in one single human being. And we need to seek that connection, to understand it, to accept it and to live according to it. It's a lifelong challenge.
It looks to me that nowdays we tend to set the rules for our existence, to design it's nature. But rules are already there. Even our goals are there in some way. We reather need to discover them (get to know them), than to create or choose them.
Which book?
anxiety is asking a question, “which action will you take?”. i worry too much about the outcomes of each action rather than just picking one. also forgetting that “no action” is always a possible action too
That is the snare of reflection (which is not a bad thing in itself)... His review/critique 'Two Ages: A Literary Review' goes into this (amongst other text that do the same from another POV) - just don't jump to conclusions before the end..
@@Nowhy thanks for the rec, i'll give it a try
Clicked on the video as soon as I saw "Kierkegaard" on it. He is 🔥fire.
babe wake up Overthink podcast just dropped
I like Dr. Anderson's tone of voice, peaceful and relaxing. When I was a child I'd think oh damn Adam got us all in trouble.
Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom 🎉
of choice, freedom of choice
Anxiety for Kierkegaard is the moment,that brings together the different kinds of time, and really concentrates, synthesize them, but also at the same time, nothing.
It's interesting to notice how nowadays, more than ever I'd say, we tend to refer our anxiety to something and give it attributes. Think of social anxiety, separation anxiety, or the relatively new 'range anxiety' people have about electric vehicles. In a sense you could say that, even though we claim that we understand the world and ourselves better and better as civilization evolves, we insist on misreading this fundamental part of us as humans.
best content on YT. so refreshing. big thanks!
'infinity' not 'immortality', Professor Anderson? and how refreshing it is listen to someone talk about anxiety for ten minutes without using the 'emotion.' you deserve an award!
Yepp, quite a feat with all the so-called modern psychology out there...
just go back to church, i’m sure they’re missing you.
I'm not sure if I would focus on the possibility itself and nothingness as the centre of Kierkegaard's anxiety. I always interpreted it in such a way the infinite possibilities cause the anxiety due to the fact that one can never be certain of making the right choice and of the best use of one's time. The responsibility of choosing an appropriate route for oneself from the ocean of possibilities weighs heavy. Am I wrong?
Anxiety comes from frustration. We do deserve strive for freedom and self care and care for others ❤❤❤ be blessed and loved and learn loving more and more. Welcome to earth
The book I haven’t read of Kierkegaard and always wanted to get to. Thanks for the overview.
God rest
Yes! I love these types of videos. Could you do a podcast episode about suicide? I think that it would be really interesting
whoa it's like you read our minds...
Next ep isn't *exactly* on this, but the topic is "Why Live?" Stay tuned on Tuesday, 2/28
@@OverthinkPodcastPhilosophy Haha wow. Awesome
@@OverthinkPodcastPhilosophymake more videos on personal God and christian existentialism.
Ahh, the sickness unto death...
And this channel still producing bangers!
very cool, thank you. i wasn't aware of his idea of "the moment", and it made me wonder how Kierkegaard's thought might have influenced Rudolf Otto's idea of the "numinous" (in the sense of completely different and awesome i.e. terrifying), and perhaps Eliade's idea of "illud tempus" (in the sense of outside linear time). Or even Demieville's idea of "subitism" in his studies on Buddhism. philosophy is such a fun puzzle
Taoism comes to mind - or Heraklit in a different way.. paradoxical logic - fuzzy logic - quantum mechanics...
I loved your video. I find philosophy fascinating and you explained everything really well
Good chat. Recently found Kierkegaard and I'm loving the experience.
Keirkegaards' mindset differs from most everyday people. What we invariably equate with being anxious as a negative .Positive, if not manifested, has the potential to be achieved, so positive implicit pending on the action the individual decides . On a deeper subconscious level the inversion of our traditional customary way of thinking Keirkegaards indirection of logic creates the Kantian spin or sonic cadence as if the semantics reverberates within the readers consciousness...he ✍️ philosophy with poetic licence making him one of the literary giants
Thank you for posting Professor-you do a great job of explaining these concepts!
I agree, good summary - it's just that one can so easily fool oneself, if one doesn't do the work of thinking for oneself.
Hi, I love the content of your channel. It's so educational and philosophical. I would like to see you cover spinoza and his philosophy if you get the time to get through the things he discovered
Einstein's metaphysics are borrowed from Spinoza.
Realisation of Metaphysical nature of possibilities as an cause of anxiety which we see through the actual possibility (actuality) and get overwhelmed and fail to understand stand its an moment to act and nothing beyond. It's like derrida's deconstruct.
🙏 commenting for the algorithm😆 as an old naive hobbyist most all historical philosophy like this is worthwhile to understand because of the brilliant thinking but antiquated… we simply know way more now than a century ago in all disciplines worldwide.
Keep up the wonderful work!
I agree with you and i add another thing that anxiety prepares us to bring change inside or outside of the person or go to submissive mode. But always remember such conditions vary from person to person. So if you like seek medical refuge according to your own life game plan. But never surrender to nonsense people in life. Regards
I like the topic and the way it's presented. Great, interesting content. I subscribed!
“Leap of faith- yes, but only after reflection. “ so does the anxiety for K come from the reflection of our possibilities? Hence the dizziness of our freedom? Or does it come from the choice of picking between an either/or situation ? Or a culmination of both? Thank you for the great content.
These days I’m very interested in Christian sources of modern psychotherapy. Marsha Linehan is a devout Catholic who cites Christian piety as the source for the skill “radical acceptance” which she links to freedom from suffering. She states “The drive to stop pain no matter the cost is the opposite of freedom.” And I agree-I suspect this is accurate just because avoidance (the opposite of acceptance) distances us from authentic experiences like anxiety. It is interesting that both Linehan and Kierkegaard noticed the paradox of allowing anxiety its due: that without acceptance and the anxiety that comes with it, humans seem unable to cope with their counterfactually biased, inductively tortured, emotional brains. Anxiety/acceptance seem to be both essentially ABOUT freedom and the door TO that freedom.
Religious people aren't supposed to feel any existential anxiety because the answers are already there, it's just whether or not your "faith" is great enough. I love that Kierkegaard spoke of the same isolation and backlash we'd deal with in todays church.
I think a great look for how Christians can approach anxiety is found in ecclesiastes. Written by Solomon, son of David, the "wisest man in history" who knew people personally who spoke with God:
"Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?". In essence, even the wise and religious experience existential dread, because faith is not knowing for a fact.
I also love Kierkegaard!
Specially only religiotential people feel existential because they have always 2 choices..good or bad..like ebraham...but non religious people are dumb,what ever they do ,not making different😅 ....don't jock around
@@andyrexford12 "supposed to" meaning in its perfect form. Faith is certainty in what's not seen. I can't have faith in my wife but also be very worried she'll cheat. Clearly I just don't trust her
When you talk, it’s like listening to the singing of The Calculus. And just like when I took Calc on school, I had to read it 3 or 4 times b before I got it.
Thank you for this! Kind of relatable what you communicate haha :)
I've been working my way through Kierkegaard's first work, Enten-Eller (either-or) that is about the issue of choice as well. I think one of the main things that is missing from your analysis (although I like your video) is the presence of the ∞: In Enten-Eller there is an addition of the infinite (∞) to the concept of choice, e.g. what if the choice being made is of indefinite duration. From this immediately follows anxiety, i.e. what if I make the wrong choice in an ∞ context. But (my opinion) ultimately if a choice is being made in an ∞ context, the choice itself is infinitesimal so as you report Kierkegaard as saying 'anxiety is nothing' ... i.e. it is in a way meaningless to consider choice at all in an infinite context. In modern geometry there is a concept of the 'point or line at infinity', that basically means that if you go infinitely far in a given direction, you wind up in the same place regardless of the direction, so it doesn't really matter. Anxiety, it seems, is the failure to grasp that.
This is actually a great synopsis nice
Yes, the French have been good at this but let's not forget the Russian anxiety via Dostoyevsky. Thanks for bringing up this great Dane.
The french? Nahh, maybe Derrida, but I am ignorant to why I come up with him.. Dostoyevsky however, oh yes...
Would i be right in saying the more you know the more anxious you become?
I feel like anxiety arises from the contention between freedom and limitation. I have the freedom to make a risque joke around a new group of friends, but I develop anxiety due to the acknowledgment that I have the freedom to do such but I am in the limitation of a social context that might shun such humor. Just as Eve develops temptation and anxiety due to the freedom but limitation set by God. But I guess that is the notion of the absurd, a contention that forces us into experience.
my life makes sense after all - instead of 'being', the choice to spend my life 'becoming' is my acceptance of freedom's possiblity. cheers.
I want to ask you if you have made a video where you discuss more about that interesting footnote about women seeking transcendence in another?
That footnote is still so interesting.
“they cripped him” 1:14
What does that even mean? Is it English?
was Kierkegaard's concept of spirit ( when he referred to the word )
like traditional concept of spirit/artificial religious concept of spirit ? or like Hegel he made an artificial concept of spirit of his own ?
Upon considering anxiety I think it is potential energy stored in the psyche, searching for expression. Was Special K perhaps the first psychologist? Thanks Professor, for the great video. PS - I guess what I feel on Monday, that dreaded feeling of back to work - is not anxiety but fear - because it is specific? Did I understand that point correctly?
Also the talking snake has a role to play in the drama that unfolded in Eden too, no? God awakens choice and freedom, the snake tells Eve a lie, she goes for it and finally Adam gets sucked into the promise of power and knowledge. Is the snake our Ego and Eve our Jungian female half, or what? Talk about a slippery slope. Also, there are no apple trees in that part of the world, we are not reading the original Hebrew, but anyhow I'm headed way off track here, its just a story however you read it.
Do you have a video on hating your job but being trapped :) I think the best way to deal with negative emotion that causes suffering is to replace it with a positive one by means of developing a positive narrative. God, who knows all, knows that Adam is going to make the wrong choice (if indeed it was wrong) - what an ass. Adam will have to leave the innocence of a hunter-gatherer existence where he is one-with-nature and develop agriculture, cities, capital and war, surplus and scarcity, law and crime and all of the suffering that goes along with dualism, knowledge, technology and 'civilization'. Our fate was sealed from day one.
No real choice at all given our nature it was to be expected (Sapolsky, Sam Harris and others agree, we have no free will which I figured out without a PhD BTW). Our brains make choices but are not free of constraints by any means.
Anyhow I digress. To deal with anxiety or fear beware the passive, transcendent path of Buddhism, accepting and submitting, letting go and not judging at least know what you are getting into. Buddhism teaches us to accept suffering but offers no real solution because life must have a purpose and all purpose, all creation is inherently egotistical. Buddhism provides perspective and emotional grounding and addresses the cause of existential anxiety (fear and ego caused by separation and forgetting who we truly are and getting distracted by desire). Buddhism and Hinduism are deep, they are profound and they awaken us to the transitory nature of reality and the illusion of being an individual in the world. But just being awake is not enough as Adam found out. Buddhism is like Aspirin for the soul, it eases the pain but cannot cure it. At least secular Buddhism that is. If you are dumb enough to buy into reincarnation and nirvana, go for it.
Taoism teaches balance and the male/female aspect of life as one and the creative energy that emerges from the interplay between the two which is tension and a kind of anxiety that managed by seeing the big picture (the Tao) and by going with the flow, and by participating willingly in the dance and being flexible and knowing that this too will pass. Not bad.
Existentialism tells us to take charge of your life and find a purpose, create a purpose, do everything with purpose (my advise is to tell no one what your purpose is) to perform every act with purpose (a bit Zen like). Nietzsche was the answer to Special K but again beware, the purpose you choose is not an end, it is just a path, a place to stand in the cosmic shit show where entropy wins in the end. Try not to become a Nazi or a woke moron along the way.
Christianity is an attempt to save Adam, a negative narrative that makes man simply, pathetic and hopeless - we cannot save ourselves, we need a new myth - Jesus to save our sorry asses from ourselves. We are sinners and apart from the God who made us in his image (not egotistical at all this God). No thanks.
Which path will you take (1) transcend and struggle to pay your mortgage (2) go with the flow and see where you end up (3) pray to Jesus for forgiveness, good luck with that (4) drink beer and watch football and say F it. (5) create your self and live with purpose.
I am Beowulf - the greatest words in the English language. That's how to deal with anxiety. Did I Overthink?
What is the name of the book? I need it. Please.
Great video, thank you very much , note to self(nts) watched all of it 11:45
which edition is that
Thanks for this video! Are you suggesting that to be authentic a person must be anxious?
Possibly.. what do you think? Must a authentic individual be anxious and if so, in what way?
Maybe I'll go to Amsterdam
Maybe I'll go to Rome
And rent me a grand piano
And put some flowers 'round my room
But let's not talk about fare-thee-wells now
The night is a starry dome
And they're playin' that scratchy rock and roll
Beneath the Matala Moon
Just wanted to comment on one thing ( though a few have jumped out at me )
Dr. Anderson's specialty is Derrida.
The most common reading of the archetypal story of Adam and Eve is that God told Adam and Eve they eat the fruit in the garden but not to eat the fruit from the centre of the garden. The tree of knowledge.
The message being knowledge claims to be at the centre ( not God's word)
Now jump ahead to Derrida. Derrida is not a fan of logo-central thinking. He goes around it believing it can't be pinned down.
That is no different from knowledge as acting out through intellect ( evil serpent ) at the centre of logos opposed to spirit.(God ) the meaning of things through knowledge as the centre opposed to the unknown ( in spiritual understanding that is the anxiety that only a spiritual person can understand. Thanks .
It would be soo great if there wa a script that you could read instead of listen. I´d love it, please.
hi ellie I'M buggie I've been researching the concept of anxiety book because I've been involved with anxiety and adhd all my life . for sociological and economic reasons I"ve tried to be a guide on my own all my life and I've done it very successfully untill NOW. what I want to say is that I found out about kierkegaard's existence today and I started researching most of the thoughts he talked about while I was researching . I realized that I accessed them while I was guiding myself and I think I have the potential to develop kierkegaard's thoughts or I dont know maybe somebody ask to me the rıght questıons and maybe a butterfly flaps its wings you know
maybe one day i’ll take one of your classes, Ellie ❤
what kind of examination of Kierkegaard focuses on feminism and not God and/or Christianity?
funny how I've scheduled a blog post about existential anxiety in a few hours' time and this video was just recently uploaded :)
Great, please cite the video if you use material from it! :)
@@OverthinkPodcastPhilosophy I actually didn't haha. Came across your video right after uploading my post :)
@@OverthinkPodcastPhilosophy would you be open to giving it a read? I wrote about an alternative interpretation to the existential anxiety from an author that you most probably haven't heard of
would it be fair to say then that the human spirit is affirmed through the surpassing of anxiety (towards the human / ones spirit itself, I guess)?
There are levels to this (both of his psychological works go into your question).. can't give a definite answer other than, Yes/No; Both/And or Neither/Nor...
@@Nowhy makes sense I guess, thanks
i tried to tell my philosophy professor that possibility relates us to infinity and is heavier than actuality but unfortunately it only worked for one assignment
What a great teacher. I normally don’t like the Americans when watching lectures, but this lady is fantastic, very British like, I.e straight to the point. Excellent
Can you help me understand the link between anxiety and “caring?” I saw something about this on another podcast but need to understand. Thanks!!!
It sounds like you might be thinking of Heidegger's view of anxiety and care?
@@OverthinkPodcastPhilosophy yes! Can you point me where to study this?
Being and Time :)
I'm have knowledge in Islamic philosophy. I think it's good to have discussion on topics such as anxiety, morality, and so on, in also eastern philosophy viewpoint.
I have never heard discussions of Genesis 3:22 in which God seems to be made uneasy by the fact that Adam and Eve now seem to be like "one of us", some sort of peers, and even expresses a sort of fear that they may eat of the tree of life. And who is "us" anyway?
Do you except a direct answer?
thank you so much 😇
Does Kierkegaard write about the deinon?
You mean Daimon?
@@Nowhy no
Thank you a lot!
isn't this book titled "fear and trembling"?
Different book
@@OverthinkPodcastPhilosophy okay, which one?
It's the title of the video and also mentioned in the caption.
@@OverthinkPodcastPhilosophy That should have been obvious had I been familiar with the title. I feel embarrassed. I have a question for you. Quick one. I have been interested in learning "ethics in AI". Do you consider that topic a part of philosophy or do you believe strictly that someone from a comp sc./tech background should do study on the said subject? (I am so glad that I can directly ask this from you. Thanks for being so approachable. I love your podcast!)
yes, definitely philosophy is and should be a key player in this discourse!
What happens if a lion eats an apple?
Thank you
A bit general on things Soren don't you think?
Thought always generalized, but of course, you are correct, however, it's not a bad introduction to K., if one doesn't know his works. Maybe the best I have seen as of yet, but that could just be me...
You seem to have a very structured life. I am saying that a philosophy can only exist in a very structured life, where false or propaganda identifies of any nature have been formed. Rather in living meaning basically being there you start to see them as some kind of phenomena.
so essentially god tempted adam and eve into sin? i know this isnt kierkegaard's or the video's point but i cant get over the notion that god created and informed adam and eve about the tree just to tempt them into sin aka freedom. could god not perceive human curiosity? or could he not foresee that the devil (also god's creation) would attempt to tempt adam and eve into trying the apple? ik this sounds like edgy atheist shit and that none of this "critique" really even matters because it misses the point of the story, but its just something i cant stop thinking about and something that ultimatly prevents me from beginning to embrace christianity or any religion for that matter. i feel like god is either all knowing (omnipotent) or all-loving, and that it is impossible for him to be both.
awesome video btw
it was either that or no free will for humans. choose
Thank you professor anderson for taking your personal time to give your explanations and share knowledge, as well as awareness.
I think my anxiety has to do with thinking that others don’t like me or care about me! It makes me talk too much and too fast in social situations…
My Orthodox faith tells me these thoughts are logismoi that I can fight with the Jesus Prayer!
I think part of my anxiety is knowing I am connected to God and that He is watching while I can’t feel in that moment that He loves me. Maybe it’s me knowing He is watching me and I instinctively know I’m going to “miss the mark” or sin! Wow! My freedom to choose to not act within His will for me to be virtuous. Although I’ve been an Orthodox ascetic struggler towards Theosis for 8 years, I still choose to behave out of my passions- especially lust for power- instead of submitting my will to His perfect will for me.
Next time I feel anxious “in the Moment” I will practice self examination to see what’s going on in my thoughts and will try to choose the good… thanks!
He? That’s your problem
@@Ck-zk3we 🤣🤣🤣🤣 no it’s not 🙏🏻☦️🥰
Thanks for opening and your bravery to share.
@@Ck-zk3we what do you mean with 'that'?
This professor is too perfect. AI robot? Reptilian? You tell me...
In all seriousness, thanks for blessing us with your work.
“Indeed, mankind was created anxious" (Quran. 70:9)
Ok how this started upset me. See I've been annoyed by the fact that there isn't a true synonym for anxiety in Dutch. You need to use multiple words to describe it .. angst is a Dutch / Germanic word, which is one of the words you'd use to describe anxiety but not a synonym... see angst means fear. Not anxiety. And although anxiety includes angst .. I wouldn't call it angst. Then again I'm not sure if the word angst means more in German than it does in Dutch.
Most people don't differentiate those two words, no matter the language; more often then not, they use the opposite of the one that would be fitting.
I don't understand it
So maybe we’d all be in paradise if our creator didn’t mention the tree?
🙏
Its a bit disappointing that she skips over the Christian aspects of his text, since by her own admission is core to his concept of anxiety. Kierkegaard is a difficult read, so when I tune into these, I want to hear the whole perspective. I know in our secular times this is vogue, but by skipping faith from the outset from a Christian author, aren't we as philosophers tipping the scales towards materialism? I understand the need for brevity in this medium, but viewers should be attuned to what is NOT said as much as what is.
Kierkegaard would've loved propranolol
This rips.
The one cool religious thinker.
many church fathers and islamic philosophers actually had crazy genius ideas. they just arent mainstream like the religious politicians