How is the Sartrean conception of phenomena of anguish connected to what we currently refer to as phenomena of anxiety? And what is the exact interrelation between anguish, fear, and anxiety?

This chapter contains sections titled: Notes.

Persons anguished by another's profound suffering are often outraged by well-intentioned efforts to console them which suggest that God 'sent' that horrific suffering to their loved one for a 'purpose' according to a tailor-made 'plan' for just that person. However, the outraged reaction simply deepens the anguish. This book argues that such 'consolation' is theologically problematic because it assumes that unrestricted power is what makes God 'God.' Against that it outlines an account of 'who' and 'what' the Triune God (...) is, framed in terms of God's intrinsic 'glory,' the attractive and perfectly self-expressive self-giving in love that is God's life, and sets limits to the range of things we can say God 'does.' Correlatively it offers an account of different senses in which God is 'sovereign' and 'powerful', one which reflects three ways God relates to all else: to create, to bless eschatologically, and to reconcile, as is scripturally narrated. (shrink)

This paper investigates the relationship between the concepts of fear, anguish, nothingness and death in Heidegger's philosophy of existence. It points to the role of these existential phenomena in the transformation of "Dasein", from the inauthenticity to the authenticity of its Being.O artigo investiga a relação entre os conceitos de medo, angústia, nada e morte na filosofia da existência de Heidegger. Pretende-se apontar para o papel destes fenômenos existenciais na passagem do ser-aí desde a inautenticidade para a autenticidade de (...) seu ser. (shrink)

As an environmental philosopher I had long been aware of dilemmas between animal ethics and ecological ethics, but now, as the manager of my own biodiversity reserve, I was facing these dilemmas in a more gut-wrenching and complex form than I had ever encountered in the classroom. Pressured by environmental authorities to cull kangaroos on my property, in the name of ecological ethics, I started thinking about the very meaning of ethics, its origins in the evolution of society and its (...) material and metaphysical presuppositions. Two different conceptions of the normative root of society emerged, the deontic conception, appropriate within the material and metaphysical framework of hunter-gatherer societies, and the axial conception, appropriate within the framework of ’civilization’, viz the agrarian societies that evolved into the urban-industrial formations of the modern era. The axial conception, based on empathy, aligned with our modern conception of ethics, and underlay our contemporary sense of animal ethics. ’Ecological ethics’, on the other hand, seemed to be obscurely underpinned by the deontic conception, and was not ethical at all in the axial sense, and was moreover mismatched, normatively speaking, with the material and metaphysical realities of modern societies. A different set of practices from those currently prescribed by environmental authorities needs to be devised to meet both the ethical and ecological requirements of our contemporary natural environment. (shrink)

In this article, my objective is to confront a structural reading with an ontological reading concerning the genesis and clinical interpretation of dreams, regarding the formal operators who guide both readings, highlighting their differences. Beyond the “symbolic operator” - tasked with explaining the formation of unconscious desires that the dream would fulfill - it is my purpose to discuss the difference how - in each reading - the “real operator” is employed. In both, the real is pointed out as what (...) would explain the emergence of anguish before which the dream would find a limit, leading the dreamer to awake. Therefore, according to each of the readings, the real concerns very different occurrences. And the question I intend to answer in this article is: how does each of these ways of understanding the real affect the comprehension of what anguish is in the dream field? In what sense, for Merleau-Ponty, can the dream be understood as a surreal passage? (shrink)

Se parte del planteamiento general de la perspectiva moderna que aún impera en la interpretación regular de la fe, para señalar sus insuficiencias. Posteriormente, se aborda la oposición entre universalidad ética y particularidad teológica, con base en las observaciones hechas por Kant y Kierkegaard, respectivamente, a fin de determinar el ámbito de la fe y su independencia respecto de la moral. Hecho el deslinde entre el Dios de la fe y el Dios de las filósofos, se describen los rasgos fundamentales (...) de la fe teologal, con base en el testimonio neotestamentario. Finalmente, se expone la concepción místico-religiosa de San Juan de la Cruz acerca de la fe como conocimiento oscuro amoroso, para luego aclarar en qué sentido la fe está íntimamente relacionada con el amor-ágape y la esperanza. Unidad que constituye la esencia de la actitud teologal. Be part of the overall approach of the modern perspective that still prevails in the interpretation regular of faith, to point out its shortcomings. Subsequently, deals with the opposition between ethical universality and particularity theological, based on observations made by Kant and Kierkegaard, respectively, to determine the field of faith and independence from morality. Made the boundary between the God of faith and the God of the philosophers, describes the basic features of theological faith, based on the New Testament witness. Finally, we illustrate the mystical-religious conception of San Juan de la Cruz about faith as loving dark knowledge, then clarify in what sense faith is intimately linked to the love-agape and hope. Unit which is the essence of the theological attitude. (shrink)

This paper outlines and defends a notion of tragic-remorse. This moral emotion properly accompanies those actions that involve unavoidable moral wrongdoing in general and dirty hands scenarios in particular. Tragic-remorse differs both phenomenologically and conceptually from regret, agent-regret and remorse. By recognising the existence of tragic-remorse, we are better able to account for our complex moral reality which at times makes it necessary for good persons to act in ways that although justified leave the agent with a moral stain and (...) a particular emotional response. (shrink)

Resumen La capacidad de la angustia de desvelar lo oculto está en relación con la esencial actividad des-encubridora del Dasein. Así, la reflexión respecto de la angustia se enmarca en el proyecto trascendental de la fenomenología, aun desde la renovación hermenéutica operada por Heidegger. La angustia podría ser entonces una forma preteórica de reducción, lo que aquí se llamará reducción ontológica. De esta manera, la angustia pone en valor las disposiciones afectivas en el proyecto alético, siempre inacabado, de pensar lo (...) hasta ahora no pensado.The ability of anguish to reveal the hidden is, evidently, in relation to the essential uncovering activity of Dasein. This proposal continues the transcendental perspective of phenomenology even from the Heidegger’s hermeneutic renewal. Anguish could be a pre-theoretical way of reduction; what we will call here ontological reduction. In this way, the anguish puts in value the affective dispositions in the project of thinking something which, until now, has not been thought. (shrink)

This paper outlines and defends a notion of 'tragic-remorse'. This moral emotion properly accompanies those actions that involve unavoidable moral wrongdoing in general and dirty hands scenarios in particular. Tragic-remorse differs both phenomenologically and conceptually from regret, agent-regret and remorse. By recognising the existence of tragic-remorse, we are better able to account for our complex moral reality which at times makes it necessary for good persons to act in ways that although justified leave the agent with a moral stain and (...) a particular emotional response. (shrink)

This paper outlines and defends a notion of ‘tragic-remorse’. This moral emotion properly accompanies those actions that involve unavoidable moral wrongdoing in general and dirty hands scenarios in particular. Tragic-remorse differs both phenomenologically and conceptually from regret, agent-regret and remorse. By recognising the existence of tragic-remorse, we are better able to account for our complex moral reality which at times makes it necessary for good persons to act in ways that although justified leave the agent with a moral stain and (...) a particular emotional response. (shrink)

The paper taps the agency of the imaginary interlocutor in the _Mūlamadhyamakakārikā_ of Nāgārjuna to delineate _existential anguish_ in the Madhyamaka. The paper asks whether the protestations of the imaginary interlocutor cannot be recast as _anguished_. It claims that an objection to emptiness (_śūnyatā_) can be voiced even after the metaphysical commitment to _intrinsic existence_ (_svabhāva_) has been relinquished. By interpolating _anguish_ into the Madhyamaka, the paper posits an unorthodox phenomenological objection to _śūnyatā_.

Starting from personal experiences which led him to give up teaching at the University of Venice, Alfonso Berardinelli concentrates on the difficulties and paradoxes of the relationship between educational institutions, on the one hand, and the anarchist and misanthropic character of modern literature on the other. The majority of the `classics' of modern times, from Baudelaire to Kafka, from Tolstoy to Svevo, are `scandalous' even today: one cannot teach them without trying to convey the shock of their extraneousness from the (...) modern world and its culture. Modern literature is, in actual fact, almost always anti-modern, asocial, anti-social, apocalyptic. It is not possible to turn it into a simple `object of study' without betraying it. (shrink)

This paper explores Kierkegaard’s method of irony and his distinct conception of temporality through the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas. It suggests that Kierkegaard makes an ironic use of the term ‘sacrifice.’ Rather than asking us to abandon all human preferential relationships in favor of an abstract (religious) love to an anonymous neighbor, it advances the view that Kierkegaard’s prime objective is therapeutic. Kierkegaard seeks to disabuse us of the idea that we can fully possess faith, or indeed, anything meaningful whatsoever, (...) such as the love that pulsates in our hearts for a family member, romantic partner, friend, or even to ourselves. (shrink)

Os heterônimos do poeta português Fernando Pessoa constituem uma das mais fantásticas criações da poesia moderna. Através deles, fingindo-se um deles, o poeta apresenta-se múltiplo, como que habitado por várias pessoas, encerrando vários eus, num jogo literário em que entretanto não se identifica com nenhum deles. Sem desconsiderar a complexidade dessa criação literária, o artigo propõe-se a abordar alguns aspectos da obra do “Pessoa ele-mesmo”. Em certo sentido, Pessoa ele-mesmo é também um heterônimo. Poeta fingidor, nada nele é diretamente confessional (...) ou biográfico. Pessoa ele-mesmo apresenta-se como a expressão dramática de uma busca de identidade, aberta numa constelação de personalidades complexas e sofridas. A dor fingida que finge a dor sofrida e outras representações da dor existencial de Pessoa ele-mesmo podem ser lidas como angústia e mística. Para tecer esse percurso, o artigo se reportará basicamente às poesias inéditas de 1919-1935, basicamente os últimos escritos do grande e múltiplo poeta português. Palavras-chave : Fernando Pessoa. Heterônimos. Angústia. Mística. Teopoética.The heteronyms of the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa is one of the most fantastic creations of modern poetry. Through them, and pretending to be one of them, the poet presents himself as multiple, as if inhabited by several people, assuming several selves, in a literary game in which the poet does not identify himself with any of them. Without ignoring the complexity of such literary creation, the paper aims to address some aspects of the work of “Fernando Pessoa-himself”. In a sense, “Fernando Pessoa-himself” is also a heteronomous that carries a message that is neither confessional nor a bibliographic one. “Fernando Pessoa-himself” presents himself as a dramatic expression of an identity search within a constellation of some complex and suffered personalities. The “pretended pain” that pretends to be a true suffering as well other representations of the existential pain of “Fernando Pessoa-himself” can be comprehended as anxiety and mystique. To accomplish this purpose, the article will report primarily to the unpublished last poems of the great poet Fernando Pessoa, written between 1919 and 1935. Keywords: Fernando Pessoa. Heteronyms. Anguish. Mystique. Theopoetic - DOI: 10.5752/P.2175-5841.2012v10n25p93. (shrink)

This essay addresses the anguish of Job which he pours out in Job 10. Job’s anguish is heightened by the fact that he does not know why he is suffering. He directs his protest to God whom he believes knows everything and judges the deepest intentions of human heart. How can God who is the sole author of life and judges rightly be responsible for this unjustifiable torment of the life a righteous man? This study examines the different (...) outpourings of Job’s anguished heart and sees them as the epitome of the anguish of a whole group that passes through unjust suffering. The approach adopted in the study is exegetical but with practical pastoral concerns. (shrink)

This article interprets the accounts and testimonies of native Chilean Pentecostalism, from a philosophical approach. In these accounts Pentecostal dilemmas are expressed and that oppressed beings prove by the economical and social conditions that the Chilean society lived in the 20th century. These dilemmas manifest anguish produced by absurd, emptiness and loneliness; that rise due to illness, alcoholism and poverty, which leads the individual to critical situations that push him to choose being Pentecostal, stigmatized beings and socially excluded, or (...) to suffer and death. Once they have chosen being Pentecostal the symbolic exodus starts, interpreting the past, the society and individuality in a tragic way. (shrink)

Atribuindo à ironia a possibilidade de exercício e desenvolvimento da liberdade subjetiva, Kierkegaard sublinha a negatividade absoluta como característica do referido processo em Sócrates, convergindo para assinalar o absoluto e irredutível valor do indivíduo em um movimento que implica o início absoluto da vida pessoal entre criar-se e deixar-se criar. Dessa forma, contrapondo-se à dissolução da existência humana nas fronteiras da pura conceituação intelectual, Kierkegaard assinala a tensão inaplacável entre existência e transcendência em um movimento que implica a interioridade e (...) guarda correspondência com a necessidade de tornar-se subjetivo, tendo em vista a perspectiva que defende que a verdade consiste na transformação do sujeito em si mesmo entre a vertigem da liberdade e o paradoxo da fé em um processo que encerra angústia e desespero e converge para a transição do ético ao religioso. (shrink)

Devastation -- Anguish -- Irresolvability -- Luck -- Plant -- Home -- Coda.

The anguish of Erich Fromm, a philosophical journey to an hypothesis on the turbulent life of a renowed psychoanalist when he meets Martin Heidegger.

In this essay I will examine the development of the notion of transcendence in Blanchot's early critical writings. Doing so indicates the radical way that Blanchot reconfigures this central ontological and theological term by way of his readings of the literary use of language. In turn this exposes the essential relation between finitude and literature, something which the second part of the essay will examine by way of Heidegger's study of the myth of Er.

The moral and professional anguish experienced by the medical student in response to the request is a fundamental sentiment that needs to be retained within the ethos of the medical community. Especially as laws on professional assistance in dying undergo increasing liberalization, society should not want its physicians (or its prospective physicians) to either be so callous, so lacking in compassion that they would dismiss such a patient request out-of-hand, or to be so cavalierly accustomed to acquiescing in such (...) requests that it simply becomes a routine pattern. Either approach on its own betrays the moral integrity of medicine. We instead want those professionals who are present to us in our dying to express both care and respect, to display both compassion and dignity for the dying person, even when, as in this circumstance, these core values come into conflict. In such a situation, moral anguish protects both the professional and the patient, not to mention society, from callous paternalism and/or callous indifference. (shrink)

El presente artículo interpreta desde un punto de vista filosófico, los relatos y testimonios del pentecostalismo criollo chileno. En dichos relatos se expresan los dilemas pentecostales que evidencian seres oprimidos por las condiciones económicas y sociales que vivió la sociedad chilena en el siglo XX. Estos dilemas manifiestan angustias producto del absurdo, el nadismo y la soledad, que aflora frente a la enfermedad, el alcoholismo y la pobreza, lo que le lleva a situaciones límites que lo empujan a elegir el (...) ser pentecostal, seres estigmatizados y excluidos sociales, o el sufrimiento y la muerte. Y una vez que han elegido el ser pentecostal comienza el éxodo simbólico, interpretando el pasado, la sociedad y la individualidad de una manera trágica. (shrink)

His is a journey marked by the questioning of experience itself, until what is reached is sovereign laughter, non-knowledge, and a Presence in no way distinct from Absence, where "The mind moves in a strange world where anguish and ecstasy ...

BackgroundThis article aims to contribute to a better conceptualization of pain and suffering by providing non-essential and non-naturalistic definitions of both phenomena. Contributions of classical evidence-based medicine, the humanistic turn in medicine, as well as the phenomenology and narrative theories of suffering and pain, together with certain conceptions of the person beyond them are critically discussed with such purpose.MethodsA philosophical methodology is used, based on the review of existent literature on the topic and the argumentation in favor of what are (...) found as better definitions of suffering and pain.ResultsPain can be described in neurological terms but cognitive awareness, interpretation, behavioral dispositions, as well as cultural and educational factors have a decisive influence on pain perception. Suffering is proposed to be defined as an unpleasant or even anguishing experience, severely affecting a person at a psychophysical and existential level. Pain and suffering are considered unpleasant. However, the provided definitions neither include the idea that pain and suffering can attack and even destroy the self nor the idea that they can constructively expand the self; both perspectives can b e equally useful for managing pain and suffering, but they are not defining features of the same. Including the existential dimension in the definition of suffering highlights the relevance of suffering in life and its effect on one’s own attachment to the world. An understanding of pain and suffering life experiences is proposed, meaning that they are considered aspects of a person’s life, and the self is the ever-changing sum of these experiences.ConclusionsThe provided definitions will be useful to the identification of pain and suffering, to the discussion of how to relieve them, and to a better understanding of how they are expressed and experienced. They lay the groundwork for further research in all these areas, with the twofold aim of a) avoiding epistemological mistakes and moral injustices, and b) highlighting the limitations of medicine in the treatment of suffering and pain. (shrink)