THE LICHTER THEME OF THE YEAR 2025: FEAR
Fear of and beyond fear
A text by Kenneth Hujer
There are not many German words that are used internationally. One, if not the best known, is “Angst”, or more precisely: German Angst. “Like hypochondriacs, Germans often fear the worst - only to find out that the reality was less bad,” says historian Frank Biess. However, the Germans' fear is no coincidence. It is based on the disasters they have experienced, argues Biess in his book “German Angst? Fear and Democracy in the Federal Republic of Germany”. For some years now, however, Germans no longer seem to be alone in their fear. The “German Angst” has been joined by a “Global Angst”.
“Fear has a large family”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Back in 2010, the philosopher Paul Virlio wrote: “Fear has become a world”. Unlike in the past, when fear was a phenomenon that was tied to localized events, identifiable and limited in time, today fear embraces the “limited, saturated, shrunken world itself”. Virlio writes in the face of stock market crises, terrorism and pandemics and sees the danger for Western democracies that fear is increasingly being used to make policy. The coronavirus pandemic was not yet foreseeable, Trump as US president was just a far-fetched fantasy, and the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops also seemed unimaginable to most people. Today, many are talking about a second Cold War, and some fear a possible third world war. Climate change and its impending consequences are doing the rest. Fear as a feeling and attitude pervades our present. In short, we are living in an age of fear.
The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard developed the concept of anxiety ("Furcht") in contrast to that of fear ("Angst"). For him, fear always refers to a concrete object; one is afraid of something. Anxiety, on the other hand, is objectless and abstract for Kierkegaard. The anxious person does not know what they are afraid of. In psychology, these would be diffuse, unspecific fears. But Kierkegaard's distinction also allowed psychoanalysis to differentiate between real and neurotic fears. Phobias such as arachnophobia, i.e. the fear of spiders, are directed at an object, but not every spider is dangerous. Rather, the fear reveals an inner conflict. The same applies to sociophobia, claustrophobia, agoraphobia, xenophobia and every other phobia. In the case of social anxiety, the outer and inner worlds, real and neurotic anxiety, seem to be mutually dependent.
“No fear for nobody"
- Tocotronic
People with anxiety disorders generally help themselves with calming methods such as breathing exercises or autogenic training, are treated pharmacologically and/or undergo psychotherapy. Behavioral therapy follows the slogan “face your fear”, while depth psychology approaches focus on the inner conflicts behind the fears. However, this should not be overlooked: Fear has always been life-saving and empowering in human history. It warns us and prevents us from taking irresponsible risks. At the same time, fear releases energy, both for defense and for escape. However, mammoths are gone and brown bears are extinct in this region. The immediate threats have given way to new threats in the course of civilization. But running away doesn't help with fear of nuclear power or unemployment.
“Courage is just as contagious as fear”
- Susan Sontag
The question is: How can and should we as a society deal with our fear so that it does not lead to a chronic panic or permanent pessimistic expectations? Is there an adequate social therapy? Is a world without fear possible? Or is there also an opportunity in fear? For Kierkegaard, after all, fear was “the fraud of freedom”.
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