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Fear: a Conceptual Analysis and Philosophical Therapy

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Fear: a Conceptual Analysis and Philosophical Therapy Fear: a conceptual analysis and philosophical therapy Sergio Starkstein, B.A. Philosophy (Honours) This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Murdoch University 2016 Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own account of my research and contains as its main content work which has not previously been submitted for a degree at any tertiary education institution. Sergio Starkstein 14/11/2016 Abstract Fear is a critical emotion in everyday life as it permeates many of our minor and major decisions. Explicitly or implicitly, fear is one of the emotions that most strongly shape human life. In this thesis fear and its philosophical remedies will be analysed through the work of western philosophers and thinkers selected based on their overall contributions in conceptualizing fear and suggesting therapies for reducing its more damaging effects. The study will show how Epicurus, Cicero and Seneca considered fear as the main obstacle in achieving peace of mind, and their ethical systems were primarily focused on dealing with this emotion by proposing eclectic philosophical therapies. Montaigne presented a humanist therapy of fear instrumented as a critical self-analysis. In contrast, a reductionist trend in thinking about fear emerged during the 17th century with the growth of materialistic philosophy. Thomas Hobbes reduced fear into a necessary tool for social control, whereas René Descartes demoted fear to a secondary emotion enacted by a dualist mechanism. This trend continued with William James’s conception of fear as a sensory-somatic reflex, and with Sigmund Freud’s hypothesis of a neurotic fear resulting from universal unconscious laws. I will also discuss how current neuroscience has reduced fear to decontextualized neural changes, and how the dominant trend in psychiatry has reified anxiety into arbitrary nomenclatures of unclear validity. On a completely different tack Ludwig Wittgenstein provided a broad ‘perspicuous presentation’ of fear, but his nuanced analysis has been largely ignored in philosophical studies. Overall it can be seen that, in keeping with the scientific revolution, the influential perspectives throughout the philosophical history of fear change from understandings that philosophy itself and reason are the best therapies for fear towards the medicalization of fear that is dominant today. By following these specific and diverse historical convergences, however, their criss-crossing insights and oversights, the thesis aims to enhance the conceptual understanding of fear and the variety of perspectives and therapies available for accommodating its enduring influence in our lives. i Acknowledgements I would like to dedicate this thesis to my supervisor, Professor Peta Bowden, for her tireless guidance and encouragement throughout the long gestation of this dissertation. She has always made herself available for the numerous times I have needed her advice. Peta’s suggestions have been always illuminating and delivered with enthusiasm (a balm for my perennial pessimism). I have benefited enormously from her amazing attention to detail and critical evaluation of the text. In parallel to the excellent role as a supervisor, Peta has provided warm encouragement during difficult and challenging personal times. I will always preserve sweet memories of our long discussions at a small café in Fremantle’s prison. I also want to thank Professor German Berrios, my mentor, for the many hours he has dedicated to teaching me the epistemological foundations of psychiatry, and the methodology for investigating and writing on the history and philosophy of emotions. On a personal note, I would like to thank my family here in Australia, and back home in Argentina for their patience and support during the long years of my philosophical studies. Los quiero mucho. ii Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... ii Chapter 1 ........................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. A lexical introduction to the concept of fear ........................................................................3 1.4. Aims and methodological challenges................................................................................. 10 1.5. A summary of the chapters ................................................................................................ 13 Chapter 2 ......................................................................................................... 17 The Epicurean concept of fear and the road to ataraxia ............................................ 17 2.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 17 2.2. The historical context of Hellenistic philosophical schools................................................ 18 2.3. The Epicurean concept of fear ........................................................................................... 20 2.4. The role of fear and safety in Epicurean ethics ................................................................. 22 2.4.1. The principal causes of fear ................................................................................................ 23 2.4.2. Don’t fear God .................................................................................................................... 23 2.4.3. Don’t worry about death .................................................................................................... 24 2.4.4. What is good is easy to get ................................................................................................ 26 2.4.5. What is terrible is easy to endure ....................................................................................... 28 2.5. Epicurean ethics and the road to ataraxia ......................................................................... 29 2.5.1. Living unnoticed ................................................................................................................. 30 2.5.2. Living safely ........................................................................................................................ 31 2.5.3. The benefits of friendship ................................................................................................... 33 2.5.4. The benefits of qualified knowledge ................................................................................... 35 2.6. The Epicurean therapy of fear ........................................................................................... 37 2.7. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 3 ......................................................................................................... 49 Roman fears: Cicero’s and Seneca’s remedies ............................................................ 49 3.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 49 3.2. Fear in Roman times .......................................................................................................... 51 3.3. Distress, fear and anxiety in Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations ............................................. 52 3.3.1. The nosology of distress, fear and anxiety in the Tusculans ............................................... 56 3.3.2. "Let us therefore look to see what remedies philosophy has to offer for the sicknesses of the mind" (Tusculans 4.58) .......................................................................................................... 59 3.3.3. Cicero’s therapy for distress and fear ................................................................................. 61 iii 3.4. Fear in Seneca’s Letters ...................................................................................................... 66 3.4.1. Biographical notes and life context .................................................................................... 67 3.4.2. The Letters on Ethics .......................................................................................................... 68 3.4.3. The concept of fear in Seneca’s Letters .............................................................................. 69 3.4.4. The therapy of fear in the Letters ...................................................................................... 71 3.4.4.1. Seneca’s concept of fear during his Epicurean phase ..............................71 3.4.4.2. Seneca’s therapy in action: Letter 24 “Courage in a threatening situation” ...............................................................................................................................76 3.4.5. Seneca’s treatment for fear of death ................................................................................. 79 3.5. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 81 Chapter 4 ......................................................................................................... 85 Montaigne’s Essays: a humanistic approach to fear ....................................................85 4.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................
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