The Concept of Anxiety

December 23, 2013
Originally published in 1844, at the same time as Philosophical Fragments, this treatise by Kierkegaard (1813â1855), newly translated by Kierkegaard scholar Hannay, explores anxiety as a necessary part of the human condition, which when embraced can lead to "freedom's actuality as the possibility of possibility." Anxiety results from humanity's unique ability to reflect on itself, and the nature of its own existence. Each living person is both an individual as well as a species, capable of reproducing others of its kind. This self-awareness, which each person discovers at a certain point, Kierkegaard claims, is the true "original sin," and can lead to fear, guilt, and many other disorders, stemming from the "overwhelming knowledge of good and evil." Psychology, or what Kierkegaard calls "a science of subjective spirit," helps to bring this self-reflection to the surface, where it can be understood and accepted. Using a "sound knowledge of human life and sympathy for its interests," psychology is the best tool for countering anxiety. Referencing writers and thinkers as various as Hegel, Schelling, and Plato, and containing numerous footnotes, some several pages long, this dense book will likely appeal to a scholarly audience.

February 1, 2014

A fresh translation of Kierkegaard's 1844 treatise is long overdue, and Hannay (emeritus, philosophy, Univ. of Oslo) is the best philosopher for the job, having provided well-received translations from the Kierkegaard corpus, including Either/Or and Fear and Trembling. Those familiar with the Walter Lowrie translation of this work will find Hannay's effort familiar but will notice that it provides a keener edge to Kierkegaard's wit and a voice that is more the 19th-century Dane than Lowrie's, which was more 20th-century American. Kierkegaard took anxiety to be an unspecified fear or dread that is a precondition for freedom (and for that matter sin) as anxiety is the recognition of our current state and of the nature of possibility. Here, the philosopher (1813-55) self-consciously argues as a Christian, and while a number of his examples are dated, his arguments are nonetheless engaging. Almost as valuable as the translation is Hannay's introduction in which he provides the background necessary to grapple with Kierkegaard and a heartfelt argument for the value of studying this fountainhead of existentialism in general and Anxiety in particular. VERDICT Well worth the time for anyone interested in Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, or later existential philosophers.--James Wetherbee, Wingate Univ. Libs., NC

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