Why did you become a philosopher? I became captivated with philosophy basically as soon as I encountered it (in 1997, as a freshman at the University of Western Ontario). Nothing else seemed even remotely as interesting to me, so I kept with it.
In just a few words what exactly is a philosophical journey into anxiety? My book is sort of like a philosophical guide to anxiety. It’s made up of six chapters, each one of which focusses on the work of a particular philosopher or philosophical tradition with an eye toward showing how their ideas help us better understand anxiety’s nature and meaning. The “journey” idea is just a metaphor I used to thematically organize the book.
Why is your book titled A Danger Which We Do Not Know? The book’s title comes from a line in Sigmund Freud’s work. Freud distinguished between what he called realistic anxiety, which is fear in regard to something real and identifiable, and neurotic anxiety, which is, in his words, “anxiety in regard to a danger which we do not know”. I thought that was a pretty accurate description of what the experience of anxiety is like and ended up choosing it for the title.
Was writing this book an anxious journey in itself? Interestingly, I think it had the opposite effect. Writing this book had a therapeutic payoff. Maybe it seems counterintuitive, but I think that spending lots of time reading and writing about anxiety actually helped diminish my anxiety.
Is our collective anxiety different in any specific way in this day and age than it used to be? That’s an interesting question. I think anxiety about environmental cataclysm – what the American Psychological Association calls “eco-anxiety” – is extremely widespread these days, especially among younger people. That might be a dimension of our current collective anxiety that’s unique to the present moment.
How did you, as a philosopher, take a different approach to anxiety than others would, including medical doctors? Adopting a philosophical perspective doesn’t require disavowing anything that scientists might tell us about the nature of anxiety: about what’s occurring in the brain when anxiety strikes, for instance. It’s just that questions having to do with anxiety’s meaning and value (about what the experience of anxiety is like and how it can change us, for better and for worse, etc.) belong to a kind of broadly humanistic inquiry that, while certainly not opposed to scientific or medical approaches, is nevertheless distinct from and non-reducible to them. If the main thrust of my book is on the right track, there is more to be learned about anxiety than what empirical science alone is capable of teaching us.
Standup comics are sometimes called modern day philosophers. Is there a way for actual philosophers to reclaim some of that popular mainstream notoriety they used to have much more of? It would be great if professional philosophers learned how to communicate more effectively with mainstream public audiences. I think we’re seeing more of this kind of work these days than we used to, but it’s not easy.
If someone in Reno is not in one of your much appreciated philosophy classes at UNR, how would you suggest they go about being more philosophical and or seek more access to philosophy in their own daily lives? Great question. There are many routes into a more philosophical life. Reading is obviously a great place to begin. But films and podcasts are another route. There are also lots of great philosophy-related resources on YouTube.
If you weren’t a philosopher, what would you be? Honestly I have no idea. When I was a little kid I had plans to play point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. Jokes aside, if I wasn’t a philosopher, I’d probably be an academic in another humanities field – probably history or literature.
Why and where should locals go buy this interesting, thought provoking book? Anyone who is interested in learning more about what some of the great philosophers have had to say about anxiety might find this book valuable. I’m not sure if any of our local Reno bookstores are carrying the book right now, but it’s available for purchase on Oxford University Press’s website and all the usual online places (Amazon, Alibris, Barnes & Noble, etc.)
Our Town Reno Q and A, September 2024