Anxiety: A Philosophical Guide

by Samir Chopra

Today, anxiety is usually thought of as a pathology, the most diagnosed and medicated of all psychological disorders. But anxiety isn't always or only a medical condition. Indeed, many philosophers argue that anxiety is a normal, even essential, part of being human, and that coming to terms with this fact is potentially transformative. In Anxiety, Samir Chopra explores valuable insights about anxiety offered by ancient and modern philosophies. Blending memoir and philosophy, he also tells how serious anxiety has affected his own life—and how philosophy has helped him cope with it.

Chopra shows that many philosophers have viewed anxiety as an inevitable human response to to be is to be anxious. Drawing on Karl Marx and Herbert Marcuse, Chopra examines how poverty and other material conditions can make anxiety worse, but he emphasizes that not even the rich can escape it. Nor can the medicated. Inseparable from the human condition, anxiety is indispensable for grasping it. Philosophy may not be able to cure anxiety but, by leading us to greater self-knowledge and self-acceptance, it may be able to make us less anxious about being anxious.

Personal, poignant, and hopeful, Anxiety is a book for anyone who is curious about rethinking anxiety and learning why it might be a source not only of suffering but of insight.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Psychology, Self Help, Mental Health, Audiobook, Nature

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2024

About the author

Samir Chopra is Professor of Philosophy at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He earned a BA in Mathematical Statistics from Delhi University (1984), an MS in Computer Science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (1990) and a PhD in Philosophy from the City University of New York (2000). He has worked on logics for belief revision and merging; his current research interests include pragmatism, Nietzsche, the philosophical foundations of artificial intelligence, philosophy of law, the legal theory of artificial agents, and the politics and ethics of technology.

Samir is a blogger at The Pitch, ESPN-Cricinfo, and at http://samirchopra.com. He runs a
Tumblr at http://samirchopra.tumblr.com

Reviews

[Maziyar Yf · Rating 3 out of 5]

اضطراب یک راهنمای فلسفی ، کتابی است از سمیرچوپرا ، نویسنده هندی – آمریکایی . او در این کتاب کوشیده فلسفه را از فضای انتزاعی با با مفاهیم کلی، نظری، و ذهنی و نه چندان کاربردی به زندگی روزمره و تجربه زیسته انسان منتقل کند . کتاب چوپرا را ، نه به عنوان راهنمایی برای درمان اضطراب ، بلکه همانند تامل و اندیشه در چیستی آن باید دانست .
نویسنده با استفاده از سنت‌های اگزیستانسیالیستی و بررسی تجربه اضطراب در انسان یا همان پدیدار شناسی ، نشان می‌دهد که اضطراب بخشی جدایی‌ناپذیر از زیستن انسانی‌ست ، نه چیزی که باید حذف شود.

مفهوم اضطراب از نگاه چوپرا :
چوپرا اضطراب را نه به‌مثابه اختلال روانی، بلکه به‌عنوان نشانه‌ای از آگاهی انسان از آزادی و مسئولیت می‌ داند . در این نگاه، اضطراب حاصلِ مواجهه با امکان‌های بی‌پایان و فقدان معناهای قطعی ا‌ست . از نظر چوپرا، اضطراب زمانی پدیدار می‌شود که انسان درمی‌یابد هیچ‌چیز از پیش تعیین‌شده نیست. نه معنا، نه هدف و نه مسیر. همه‌چیز باید انتخاب شده، ساخته و مسئولیتش پذیرفته شود. این آزادی، برخلاف تصور رایج، آسودگی نمی‌آورد؛ بلکه پریشانی، تردید، و اضطراب می‌آفریند .
از نگاه چوپرا اضطراب از دلِ امکان‌ها می‌جوشد نه از محدودیت‌ها . وقتی انسان با بی‌نهایت انتخاب، بی‌نهایت معنا، و بی‌نهایت آیندهٔ ممکن روبه رو می‌شود، اضطراب پدیدار می‌گردد. این اضطراب، نشانهٔ زنده‌بودن است نه نشانهٔ بیماری.

آموزگاری به نام اضطراب :
در جهانِ امروز، اضطراب غالبا به‌عنوان اختلالی روانی شناخته می‌شود ، چیزی که باید درمان شود، خاموش شود، یا از آن باید گریخت. اما چوپرا ، روایتی دیگر دارد : او اضطراب را نه دشمن، بلکه آموزگار می‌بیند. آموزگاری گرچه نفرت انگیز اما صادق، که انسان را به بیداری فرا می‌خواند.
این گونه، اضطراب تبدیل می‌شود به راهنما. به نشانهٔ ، نه مانع. به آغازِ زیستی اصیل‌تر، نه پایانِ آسودگی. و شاید، همان‌طور که چوپرا نشان می‌دهد، آرامش واقعی نه در نبود اضطراب، بلکه در فهمِ آن نهفته باشد.
زیستن با اضطراب
از نگاه چوپرا، اضطراب دشمنی‌ نیست که باید با آن جنگید، بلکه همراهی‌ست که باید با او زیست. او ، اضطراب را بخشی جدایی‌ناپذیر از تجربهٔ انسانی می‌داند ، نشانه‌ای از آگاهی، از آزادی، و البته مسئولیت. در جهانی که معناهای قطعی فرو ریخته‌اند، اضطراب پدیدار می‌شود . چوپرا معتقد است که تلاش برای حذف اضطراب، در واقع تلاش برای حذف بخشی از انسان‌بودن است. او می‌نویسد که اضطراب، اگر به‌درستی فهمیده شود، می‌تواند محرکی برای تأمل، برای ساختن معنا، و برای زیستن اصیل‌تر باشد . این گونه زیستن با اضطراب یعنی پذیرفتنِ تردید، خلأ، و امکان‌های بی‌پایان نه به‌عنوان تهدید، بلکه به‌عنوان فرصت.
در این نگاه، اضطراب چیزی نیست که باید با دارو درمان شود، بلکه چیزی‌ست که باید شنیده شود. چوپرا از خواننده دعوت می‌کند تا با اضطراب گفت‌وگو کند، نه علیه آن بجنگد. این گفت‌وگو، آغازِ خودآگاهی‌ست؛ آغازِ ساختن معنا در دلِ بی‌معنایی؛ آغازِ زیستی که در آن، انسان نه از اضطراب می‌گریزد، بلکه با آن زندگی می کند .
گفتگو با اضطراب
از نگاه چوپرا، گفت‌وگو با اضطراب و نه سکوت در برابر آن یعنی تبدیل اضطراب از یک نیروی خاموش‌کننده به یک صدای شنیدنی؛ صدایی که حامل معنا، هشدار، و دعوت به تأمل است ، نه چیزی که باید سرکوب شود، بلکه چیزی که باید فهمیده شود. در این نگاه، گفت‌وگو با اضطراب یعنی پرسیدن ریشه های اضطراب ، چرایی و چگونگی به وجود آمدن آن ، در این نگاه، گفت‌وگو با اضطراب یعنی پرسیدن ، فهم و سرانجام باز تعریف آن .

اضطراب از نگاه فیلسوفان
یکی از بخش های مهم ولی سخت کتاب ، بررسی مفهوم اضطراب از نگاه فیلسوفان مختلف مانند هایدگر ، کیرکگارد ، آدورنو ، مارکوزه و فروید است . چوپرا این گونه نشان می دهد که اضطراب نشانه آگاهی‌ست نه بیماری . نشانهٔ این‌که انسان آزاد است، نه اسیر. این که اضطراب انسان را از روزمرگی بیرون می‌کشد و با هیچ مواجه می‌کند؛ جایی که معنا باید ساخته شود. این که اضطراب، رنجی‌ست که باید فهمیده شود . به این ترتیب، چوپرا سخن فلاسفه را نه صرفاً نقل قول، بلکه شاهدی فلسفی برای تأیید دیدگاه خود قرار می‌دهد .

در پایان هنگامی که خواننده کتاب اضطراب را می‌بندد ، احتمالا نه آرام شده، نه به پاسخ قطعی رسیده ، اما شاید چیزی درونش روشن‌تر شده باشد . او احتمالا درمی‌یابد که اضطراب همیشه هست؛ نه به‌خاطر ضعف، بلکه به‌خاطر زنده‌بودن و شاید همین زنده‌بودن، با تمام تردیدها و خلأها ، نیازمند مواجهه‌ای صادقانه با اضطراب باشد .

[Maryam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book became personal when I noticed that the writer had experienced grief for his parents at a very young age. The philosophical part is great in discussing accounts of anxiety by Kierkegaard, Heidegger, etc. It is nicely said that "our problem is not anxiety itself; it is that we are too anxious about being anxious."

I'll keep this short, as I am writing a review on the book. Will come back later!

[Sarah Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

my anxiety has been so bad lately i needed to get philosophical about it.

"the more we commit, the more we leave behind the unresolved and disdained parts of ourselves, for to commit, to make a choice, is to cultivate some aspect of our selves and not others."

[Hossein · Rating 4 out of 5]

این کتاب یک کتاب روانشناسی زرد نیست؛ یک کتاب فلسفی برای عموم است، به این معنی که نمی‌خواهد شما را با پرسش‌هایی بی‌پاسخ تنها بگذارد، بلکه می‌کوشد با ارائه دیدگاهی عمیق‌تر به اضطراب و کمک گرفتن از تاریخ فکر و فلسفه، به خواننده یاری دهد تا با اضطراب بنیادین خود چشم در چشم شده و آن را واضح‌تر ببیند، تا با پذیرش و تاب آوردن آن، بتواند اضطراب‎‌های ثانوی و هرروزه را تسکین دهد. با این توصیف شاید به نظر برسد می‌توان آن را در دسته کتاب‌های رواندرمانی اگزیستانسیال یا مدرسه زندگی آلن دو باتن قرار داد، اما خاستگاه متفاوت کتاب، که درگیری شخصی نویسنده با اضطراب بوده، آن را متفاوت و منحصر به فرد ساخته است. نظرگاه این کتاب چیزی ست میان بودیسم، فلسفه و روانکاوی، که با دوربین اضطراب و نیهیلیسم نگریسته شده‌اند. چرا می‌گویم نیهیلیسم؟ کتاب از نوع خاصی از اضطراب حرف می‌زند که تنه به تنه نیهیلیسم می‌زند، اضطراب حاصل از پوچی و بی‌معنایی زندگی؛ همان اضطرابی که از مشخصه‌های اصلی عصر حاضر است، عصر نیهیلیسم و اضطراب. همچنین، اصالت شرقی نویسنده باعث شده روحی بودایی در فصل به فصل کتاب حاکم باشد؛ فرقی نمی‌کند که سخن از نیچه، فروید یا مارکس باشد، نویسنده مفهوم رنج بودایی را میان می‌آورد و این خود می‌تواند گواهی باشد بر لزوم بیش از پیش مراقبه و تمرین در این زمانه‌ی خاص، زمانه‌ی نیهیلیسم!
این کتاب را به هر خواننده‌ی مضطربی که دغدغه‌ی معنای زندگی دارد توصیه می‌کنم. به این امید که بعد از مطالعه آن دیگر نه تنها از اضطراب خود فرار نکنید، بلکه امکان‌های جدیدی را از دل آن بیابید و آزادانه‌تر در راستای تحقق زندگی اصیل قدم بردارید.

[Nick Klagge · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable wide-ranging discussion for the nonspecialist intellectual. Samir is an old gym-mate of mine from many years ago, and we hadn't been in touch in ages until I saw his book announcement! Glad I preordered.

In this short book, Chopra guides us through several thinkers who have grappled with the concept of anxiety from a (big-tent) philosophical perspective, including the Buddha, Nietzsche, Sartre, Freud, Kierkegaard, Marx, Marcuse, and Tillich (I might be forgetting one or two here). In between, he offers commentary on his own autobiographical experiences with anxiety and how he has come to grips with it while growing as a philosopher, counselor, and person. In some ways the book is similar to Kieran Setiya's recent works "Midlife" and "Life is Hard" (indeed, the former shares a subtitle with this book), but I would describe this book as a little less overtly therapeutic and a little more of an invitation to connect with some of the thinkers introduced.

I don't think of myself as a particularly anxious person, but I still felt I got a lot out of this book--particularly as a new parent with all of the natural anxieties that brings. I had at least a passing acquaintance with all the thinkers covered, with the exception of Tillich. (I found his section interesting, despite not being a religious person myself.) Ultimately I think the existentialist, materialist, and Buddhist perspectives all resonated with me in one way or another. I previously really appreciated Erich Fromm's book _Escape From Freedom_, and while Chopra doesn't touch on him directly, there are certainly echoes of his perspectives in several of the other thinkers here.

[Shamiram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately for me, both anxiety and philosophy are right up my alley. I think my favorite chapter was "Anxiety and the Social" which, given that I have a whole social work degree, does make sense. I appreciated this book because its main thesis is essentially "having anxiety makes us human," but he brought nuance to the argument and offered a bunch of different philosophical perspectives. I also appreciated the discussion around psych meds because he left room for nuance there too and tied it in with his philosophical perspective. Shoutout to being a thinking, living, anxious little thing!!!

[Sunayna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me feel less anxious about being anxious.

[Amin Houshmand · Rating 4 out of 5]

در کتاب «اضطراب: یک راهنمای فلسفی»، سمیر چوپرا نگاهی متفاوت و عمیق به اضطراب ارائه می‌دهد؛ نویسنده این پدیده را نه یک اختلال، بلکه بخشی جدایی‌ناپذیر از تجربه‌ی انسانی می‌داند. این کتاب با الهام از سنت اگزیستانسیالیسم، به‌ویژه اندیشه‌های کیرکگور، هایدگر و سارتر، اضطراب را به عنوان نشانه‌ای از آزادی، مسئولیت و معناجویی معرفی می‌کند. به باور چوپرا، اضطراب نشان می‌دهد که چه چیزهایی برای ما اهمیت دارند و ما را به درنگ در مورد انتخاب‌ها و ارزش‌هایمان وادار می‌کند.

کتاب ترکیبی است از فلسفه، تجربه‌ی زیسته و ادبیات. چوپرا با صداقت از تجربه‌ی شخصی‌اش با اضطراب می‌گوید و این تجربه‌ها را با تأملات نظری درهم می‌آمیزد. او رویکرد درمانی ندارد، بلکه فلسفه را به عنوان ابزاری برای فهم و همراهی با اضطراب پیشنهاد می‌دهد. کتاب همچنین از سنت‌های فکری گوناگون، از بودیسم و روان‌کاوی تا نظریه‌ی فمینیستی، بهره می‌برد.

چوپرا اضطراب را نیرویی می‌داند که می‌تواند ما را به زندگی اصیل‌تر و خودآگاه‌تری برساند. او به جای سرکوب اضطراب، ما را به شنیدن صدای آن دعوت می‌کند؛ صدایی که ممکن است راهنمای ما در یافتن معنا باشد.

این کتاب با نثری روشن، تأمل‌برانگیز و انسانی نوشته شده و ترجمه آن خواندنی است. برای خوانندگانی که به دنبال نگاهی غیرپزشکی و فلسفی به اضطراب هستند، کتاب «اضطراب: یک راهنمای فلسفی» اثری پُرمایه، صادقانه و در عین حال امیدبخش است.

#اضطراب_یک_راهنمای_فلسفی | نوشتهٔ #سمیر_چوپرا
ترجمهٔ #نصراله_مرادیانی | #انتشارات_بیدگل

[DRugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent review of the various aspects of anxiety, through time and across disciplines.

[Daniel Ottenwalder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anxiety
- [ ] the author describes his experience with anxiety on a personal level seeing how it has always been with him from the beginning but became more acute with the death of his dad as a teen and death of his mother as a 26 year old adult. He studied philosophy in search for answers as to this condition.
The 4 Buddhist truths
1 dukha there is undeniable pain or anxiety
2 suffering has a cause it is grounded in human condition its finiteness
3 follow the 8 fold path of action to reduce the suffering to live more skillfully ie being more insightful on the reality we are in. Its like being on a ship sea sick versus enjoying the ride in a storm
4 skillful noble walking - meditation to take you out of the external world but disrupt you into your internal world

A warrior does not know what comes next - egoless helps in letting go of that uncertainty because no one knows whats coming next

The ego is strange there is no I when you spend time introspectively

Jean Paul Sarte is highlighted for his conclusion that we create our identity given we are thrown into our existence the end of life is our building block in the quilt of human society

Sarte has been criticized by his contemporaries for not taking into account the socio-economic structures that limit choice for a select few

Nietzsche while never mentioning anxiety directly noticed a world that was changing a world where God is dead and all that is left is man. The gift of life is our mortality and we get to strive to be ubermensch. A gift in the line of evolution.

Kirkiguard angst is human its isolation in the universe. He believed the original sin of Adam is turning into anxious because when we act the decision will be judged.
Anxiety is the formless future and impatience. Possiblity to actions. Monsters and angels lurk at every corner its on us to self actualize and create.

The courage to be - anxiety is ever presence a basement of our moods knowing it will all end. Three types of anxiety - Fate and death, guilt and comendation, emptiness and meaninglessness. To be is to face it down and not do drugs/other nervous preoccupations. The world continues no matter the plan to fight everyday is to stare at death and looking at the bravery we have already demonstrated.

The uncanny mood of anxiety heidiger’s work the nazi has some of the hardest readings as it creates more anxiety of the man made world. We see the world as it is to continue the world as it is. We muffr die not knowing what this existence really it is. This is all a man made puzzle

Freuds contribution to anxiety puzzle seeing anxiety as a manifestation of sex and the original trauma of birth. Being left behind at some point, not having the parent show up or worse they pas away created even more anxiety for all loss.

Anxiety and the social highlights hoe the illusion of choce creates my te challehes in our cyreent economic conodrum look at the parents of workers today grinding away for the owners creating new anxiety for the new generation to fit into a specific mold. The key here is to acceptance activism and reflection.

Living with anxity we must go toward it and go towards our worse fears. Even the rich face this too. Anxiety creates the ability of selfcreation. We can use it to make the decision of our life. The society we live in is man made we can try to make the changes to make it better for all society. Meditation is key to unlocking this getting into flow out of the ego into the series of thoughts to see how it's just thoughts we don't have to be hostage to these thoughts. You should inspect the love all around you practicing gratitude.

[Marco Landaverde · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this a fantastic introduction to the manifold philosophical interpretations of anxiety. Chopra
synthesizes the existential, the buddhist, the psychoanalytic, and the marxist readings to work through the meaning of anxiety. Something he does extremely well--he has a real knack for recapitulating quite complex philosophical concepts with language that is easy to understand. I was familiar with the writings of Kierkegaard, Freud, Heidegger, and Tillich going into this, and it was beautiful to see their ideas expressed and integrated into this study. This work also gave me a better understanding of some areas of thought I'm not as familiar with, like Marcuse's conception of materialist anxiety and Nietzsche's work, which I'm still only beginning to make sense of.

I was surprised at Chopra's use of autobiography in this work. As someone who also moves anxiously in the world (as we all do, as Chopra insightfully addresses in this work), I resonated with his struggles in relationships, with 'changing paths', and especially with his experience in psychotherapy. I found this exposition to be incredibly honest and provoking, and I think it sets up his orientation towards anxiety and existentialism (as someone who also found his way to existentialism and psychoanalysis, these passages made me reflect on why I've gravitated towards these schools of thought myself).

This is not a self-help book. As Chopra writes, "We have too many 'guides for the perplexed'; perhaps we should be more suspicious of moral instructions and 'life plans' that create in us a 'bad conscience,' saddling us with a guilt-stricken, anxious view of life; should we, perhaps, entertain uncertainty and the possibilities of the unlived life?" (Chopra, 146). For Chopra, it is the encounter with anxiety, from its multiple angles, that allows us to understand it, to affirm it as part of our lives, and to go through with living and evoking change. I do not 'beat' my anxiety, I learn my anxiety. Here, Chopra offers many different points of approach, different angles of learning 'the beast'.

I think this book serves as a great introduction to existentialism, not only for its lengthy expositions on death, nothingness, freedom, responsibility, and authenticity, but also for the fact that Chopra overlays Herbert Marcuse's polemic against the existentialist concern with anxiety. The existentialists would claim that anxiety is something 'ontological' to the human being; it is this universal contour to existence itself; Man, as such, is anxious. Marcuse argues that such ontological claims are privileged and bourgeois; for if anxiety is ontological, then man would have no more to do than to accept his fate. This negates his possible realization of systemic, societal forces that produce his anxiety, thereby withholding any rebellion towards a change. Marcuse's insight is correct in some sense--existentialists like Kierkegaard, Tillich, and Heidegger pose 'anxiety' as something 'incurable' as such; thus, the marginalized subject will remain quiescent to his 'incurable' situation. This is why Marcuse wished to reframe existential topics like 'freedom' and 'anxiety' as experiences deeply informed by 'social structures' and 'historical movements' (135). For Marcuse, anxiety is a symptom of the alienation of labor, of the unrest spurred on by a capitalist society. The anxieties of the working-class subject differ from the anxieties of the bourgeoise; yet the middle-class existentialist sees 'anxiety' as this democratized ontological item. Here, I would have liked to see Chopra introduce some of the further distinctions the existentialists have made regarding anxiety; Heidegger makes clear the ontological distinction between anxiety and fear, that fear is something with a definite object, and is an 'ontic' representation of a deeply-rooted existential anxiety. Paul Tillich spends much of The Courage to Be outlining the subjective transformation of anxiety into fear, whereby the subject bears the weight of the existential anxiety of nonbeing by finding its 'definite object'. Such are ways we can go about replying to Marcuse; as soon as we localize anxiety to something 'presented' to us, we lose sight of the ontological character of anxiety as such. Even the subject who initiates change in society and situation still must take on the anxious burden of starting afresh, of creating new values, and of his ultimate death as well. Anxiety, as individualizing, would allow for such initiatives to even spring up.

There's a brilliant moment somewhere towards the end of the psychoanalytic chapter, where Chopra localizes Freud's notion of anxiety (being a symptom of sexual repression) to the historical moment of 19th-century Vienna, and contrasts this notion with our current permissive-performative society (One could compare this insight with Byung Chul-Han's critique of the neoliberal invective to 'perform' in achievement-based society). Chopra says, "...we face in our society the problem of punishment not for performance but for nonperformance instead: our cultures saturate us with images of idealized potential romantic partners and sexual performers with perfect bodies; online, and elsewhere, we are fed a daily dose of sexual inadequacy, insecurity, and frustration" (114). Here, in this contemporary time-period, the super-egoic mandate is not to suppress your true desires, but to engage in them fully. The terms of this engagement open up new avenues of guilt and anxiety; the social invective to have 'good' sex, and lots of it. In the age of 'hookups' and 'body-counts', sex has become an essential domain of performativity, and with this mandate to perform comes the anxiety of inadequacy, the insecurity of one's body, etc... It was interesting to read this flourish in contrast to the more-existential insights found in the earlier chapters.

Overall, this is a great work philosophy in-itself, and also serves as an engaging introduction to some interesting topics in the field.

[Paul Womack · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-done overview of anxiety as analysed by several perspectives, Buddhism and the concept of dukkha, Existentialism (Sartre, Nietzsche, Kiekergaard, Paul Tillich, and Martin Heidegger), and Freud. Accepting the truth that existence involves anxiety over fate or death or meaning or guilt, the answer comes not in denial or evasion but an exploration into one’s anxiety and a search for what can matter in a contingent existence. My only disclaimer can be that some life situations involve such alienation and impoverishment, one faces serious hurdles in achieving a state of introspection. But, for me at least, a very good read. I appreciated Mr. Chopra’s candor, as exemplified in this remark: “I first tried to read Heidegger almost three decades ago; I often learn more from those who write about Heidegger than from the man himself.” Such honesty lessened my anxiety at having such a difficult time reading Heidegger.

[Aidan Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this I felt like it was more of a "Guide to Philosophies about Anxiety" rather than what the title suggests. It was definitely interesting, and Chopras knowledge combined with his personal experience makes for an insightful read.

However, I do think it was missing more personal experiences, or tying philosophical concepts to real-world examples to break up the reading and to allow for the imagination to do some work - it is very hard to visualize what is being said most of the time.

The language used throughout is overly dense and can make for quite an exhaustive read (where even as a native English speaker, I had to look up quite a number of words and phrases - especially for the use of latin which came with little to no elaboration)

I learned a bit about anxiety, or where it stems from which was eye-opening, but given the dense read, I find it a tricky one to recommend.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a couple of things out of this:
1. Now I want to read more Nietzsche even though he's the "not like other girls" philosopher,
2. The vivid description of anxiety being a consequence of us not being god is now acid etched into my mental hardware.
"I am not omniscient, therefore I am anxious because I do not know what may come my way; I am not omnipotent, therefore I am anxious because I know I cannot and will not withstand all the insults, physical and mental, the world sends my way; I am not omnibenevolent, so I am made anxious, for I know and sense that I am capable of wrongdoing, of malevolence, of doing harm even to those I love and care for."

[Boris]

Mielenkiintoinen kirja siitä, miten ahdistusta on lähestytty eri filosofisissa perinteissä. Lyhyyteensä nähden kirja oli yllättävän kattava ja hyvin jäsennelty, mutta olisin ajoittain toivonut hieman lisää syvyyttä ja kattavampaa valikoimaa filosofeja ja filosofisia suuntauksia. Nyt mukana oli aikalailla standardikattaus klassikkoajattelijoita. Laajan filosofisen katsauksen sijaan kirja on kuitenkin pikemminkin omaelämänkerrallinen kokoelma filosofioita, jotka Chopra on kokenut itselleen hyödylliseksi ja sellaisena se toimi mielestäni erinomaisesti. Kirja kutsuu lukijan tutkimaan omaa ahdistustaan ja tarjoaa avuksi hyviä työkaluja ja perspektiivejä, sekä samaistumispintaa Chopran omien kokemuksien kautta. Ahdistus on osa ihmisyyttä, ja sen kohtaaminen ja hyväksyminen voi parhaimmillaan toimia voimavarana, joka mahdollistaa autenttisen ja merkityksellisen elämän.

[Timothy Sikes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid short read about how different philosophical traditions deal with anxiety. I liked that the author didn't just keep it abstract or academic -- he regularly referenced his experience with anxiety in dealing with the death of his parents, which definitely helped ground the book from being too abstract.

[natalie zander]

when Kierkegaard said “what is anxiety? it is the next day.” ?!??!?!?!!!?!??! yeah he ate with that

[Melody]

"modern man's most distinctive signature is a forlorn eviction from his former homes"

Now I must give Kierkegaard and Tillich a try.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

"These grim lessons taught me this world is ruled by merciless probabilities; there are no warnings attached to daybreak that this is the day of catastrophic misfortune, of fatal happenstance."

"I could not bear any more mourning, whether literal or figurative; there was a witness within me, and it had seen enough."

"In middle age, my anxieties about death and decreptitude, about the pain and discomfort that lies ahead, about inflicting my disrepair and death on my family, have taken on a darker hue."

"I learned about the dissolution of self and personality as her body broke down, a deep, fundamental philosophical lesson I imbibed without textual analysis... then, a life I recognized was over, a person I knew was gone. But the physical traces of that presence remained, to haunt me with the resemblance to the one who brought me into this world."

"I would look at the arrogant strut of my uncaring fellow humans and think one blow would bring them to their knees."

"Now, when the fabricated world of artifacts and predetermined meaning crumbles, we experience true existential isolation and dread. Now, as we take a step back from the ordinary, the settled, the established, the normal, we notice how strange, how contingent all "this" is."

"My parents? ...their lives and motivations destined to remain hidden from me, their origin and identity a great perplexity."

"Thus does anxiety inform me of who I am."

[danielle; ▵ · Rating 2 out of 5]

a bit whiney, and the writing is often self-indulgent; the overview of anxiety in philosophy is decent (if sort of repetitive), but the book as a whole feels shallowly researched and quickly written; moreover, the long lists of rhetorical questions often fall flat for provoking food for thought and seem sort of panicked, frightened, or just confused

(also, in the chapter entitled anxiety and the social, it seems the author forgot everything he knew about the existentialist view of anxiety as he tries to characterize today’s particular anxiety; also, he seems to have succumbed to anxiety rather than to have understood it toward surmounting it)

[Nick Jacques · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a particularly interesting read, at times a bit verbose but overall a unique perspective and analysis of anxiety.

The high-level idea being presented here is that rather than considering anxiety as something pathological, it is actually a normal and integral component of being human. I found this very interesting, and perhaps somewhat validating. I think most people have likely had a brush with anxiety, to differing extents. The continuum is pretty expansive stemming from things like presenting at an important meeting on Monday morning all the way through to "Why are we here, where did I come from, and what happens after my certain death? Samir voices these provocateurs of anxiety incredibly well, maybe even a little too well. I found myself almost becoming anxious at the way he was articulating the reasons there are to be anxious in our modern world, and generally as a result of the human condition. Below is an example of such writing:

Here in this state, a frightening series of thoughts that reckon with the contingency of my constructed world confront me: Who am I? My name? Given to me by my parents; I could have had many others. My nationality? A contingent accident generated by the vicissitudes of my parents' lives. My nation: A historical accident that came into being only a few centuries ago. My religion? I could have had another faith, been brought up to believe in other gods. My language, the one in which I express my deepest thoughts? The result of my being programmed to speak a local dialect depending on my cultural location and my family's history; I could have been thinking, writing, and speaking in another. My best friends? Utter strangers, who know me through a series of fortuitous circumstances. My children? Strangers too, brought into this world by me, who have taken shape before my eyes, who consider me an enduring mystery, and who will remain mysteries themselves. My parents? Historical accidents, bumblers pretending to know all, their lives and motivations destined to remain hidden from me, their origin and identity a great perplexity. Those great priests and sages and philosophers and writers, supposed authoritative guides for my life? "Human, all too human", subject to these same contingencies and fragilities. What, then, of the great certainty that those great systems promise us? A structure of seeming fixity, in truth a house of cards, put together and guaranteed by other tormented and frail human beings. All we hold dear and fixed is accidental, the result of coincidences and flukes; the solidity of the world is a careful contrivance by other humans, ignorant and anxious, just like me. The foundations of our world and existence are built on sand. We are bags of blood, bone, and flesh, our consciousness and life a historical accident. What then of us? Who are we, really? What is my real name? What is this all about ? When this surface, this sheen of the normal is removed, what and who am I?

I'm not sure this book has really done anything to quell any anxiety I have about this bizarre existence, but it is probably the first time I've considered anxiety as something other than a pathology, which is a start. How anyone isn't anxious given some of the questions outlined above would be beyond me.

[Milan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anxiety: A Philosophical Guide by Samir Chopra helped me understand anxiety beyond just clinical or self-help perspectives. He writes about the existentialists' view of anxiety as tied to our freedom and responsibility, Eastern philosophical approaches to uncertainty and impermanence, and more contemporary philosophical psychology. He takes examples from philosophers like Kierkegaard, Sartre, etc. to lay the groundwork for this book.

The author provides a good foundation for understanding how philosophy frames anxiety as more than just a disorder - as something that reveals important truths about consciousness, choice, and what it means to navigate an uncertain world. Rather than simply viewing anxiety as something to be eliminated, Chopra suggests it should be understood as an inevitable part of conscious existence and even as something that can provide insights into what it means to be human. He explores how different philosophical frameworks have understood anxiety and what we might learn from engaging with it thoughtfully rather than just trying to suppress it.

The book draws on various philosophical traditions - from existentialists like Kierkegaard and Heidegger to more contemporary thinkers - to understand what anxiety reveals about the human condition. Drawing from his personal experiences, Chopra examines how anxiety relates to our awareness of mortality, freedom, uncertainty, and the responsibility that comes with making choices in an unpredictable world.

My only complaint - he did not make the book very easy to read. If he had made it more accessible it would have drawn more readers. The language is quite dense at times as if he is trying to write a philosophical treatise not to be read by common people.

Nevertheless, it is a good read about anxiety – if you are looking for a thoughtful reflection over quick fixes.

[Naina Z. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took away a lot from this book. The core messages resonated with me and there is plenty I've learned on how to deal with my own anxieties. Where this book lost me was its repetitive nature, especially as Chopra goes through different and overlapping philosophical schools of thought. It felt at times like a discombobulation of ideas. His writing style is filled with impressive and beautiful descriptions that would be well suited for a novel but it made it difficult to follow Chopra's train of thought.

These are some of the key takeaways:
- Anxiety is this feeling of discontentness that the author believes is tied to the realization of the finiteness of life (I don't necessarily agree with the fear of death debate but don't have a compelling reason why it's not connected to the arousal of anxiety)
- Anxiety tells us that some of our needs are not being met; we need not shy away from anxiety - we should try our best to understand its roots because it is our subconscious telling us something important about ourselves
- The only way to tackle anxiety is by ACTING on it. It's an act of maturity by realizing that only WE are in charge of ourselves. Ignoring it only makes it worse and can become neuroticism. Chopra often brought up that we're doing a disservice by taking medication since it dulls our understanding of the root cause of anxiety and ignores your wants/ needs.
- Anxiey will be with you throughout life, therefore you should learn how to live with it (like anger): ‘to be anxious is to be human and that to be human is to be anxious.’

[Casey Sutherland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up Samir Chopra’s Anxiety at a time when my own anxiety felt like an Albrecht Drürer painting... a dreadful companion. Chopra talks about anxiety not just as some clinical diagnosis or fleeting emotion but as an existential wake-up call that underscores our own fragility while, ironically, proving just how alive we really are.

Back in my undergrad days, I wrote my philosophical thesis on Masahiro Mori’s Uncanny Valley using Heidegger’s ideas. I explored how that eerie unease we get from nearly-but-not-quite-human figures (like super-realistic robots) called 'The Uncanny Valley ' and argued it was a powerful reminder of our own most, nonrelational, and unstrippable relationship with death. While I didn’t explicitly call this Uncanny feeling “anxiety” back then, re-reading my old arguments through the lens of Chopra’s work, I can see that’s exactly what I was grappling with—a fear that’s strangely beneficial, because it flashes a mirror up to our finite humanity.

Chopra’s book is special to me because it connects the dots between the intellectual pursuit and the very real, sometimes messy feelings of worry and dread.

[Holly Bittner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main premise is that humans are ontologically anxious creatures. We suffer from fears both realistic and imagined, and we experience anxiety regardless of our socioeconomic status (though in different forms). Samir Chopra gives readers a variety of explanations on the purpose of anxiety, what it means to be an anxious individual, and how to live with anxiety.

Chopra gives great nuance into how these philosophies can interact, particularly in the conclusion of the book. Though we may not agree with all of the philosophers discussed, parts of their philosophical theories resonate and can be incorporated into our understanding of anxiety. The author’s argument against medication for anxiety can seem abrasive early on, yet concludes in an open-ended way to invite discussion.

Overall, this book highlights different philosophies to give readers an understanding of the question of anxiety. Chopra’s own story allows us to consider on our personal experiences and how to use the information learned to interact with our anxiety in a more positive, intimate way.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give it a low 4 star. I really appreciate the historical and the philosophical walkthroughs of the handfull of philosophers included, but dislike the authors praise for trash like Marx, Marcuse, and even Heidegger although his controversy is acknowledged. Anyhow, I do not get the "critical theory" aspect though. That seems forced - why not just write the book without the framework of chritical theory. Like, just a normal book. No marxist angle. Because I have to try not to care about it while reading, it loomes there, even if I still enjoyed big parts of the book - even if it was overly complexly written and a bit ranty in the last two chapters that gives the concluding thoughts of the previous historical narrative. The personal touches and stories are maybe the best here - those I can not argue with. Chopra is honest about his anxiety.

Takeaways: Great to have if I need to look on philosphers take on anxiety. Also, maybe for some quoteables.

[Alireza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and definitely and important book. I found reading it along with the subtle art of not giving a f*ck quite interesting as they talked about similar stuff. However, I cannot believe I'm giving Mark Manson more rating here, I think the art of not giving a f*ck had a better flow. The author here, pretty much kept on repeating the same thing over and over and over and then when we finally moved to Freud I had no energy to put in because by then I had already given up (I take credit for giving up but also as the author you gotta make sure you're flowing good)..all in all good book, but once you read pages 70-90~ skip to frued and the last few chapters

[Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a necessary reiteration of things i knew from reading other books on the necessity of anxiety (and the acceptance of such) in our physiology. I think being told i was an anxious person by my therapist, and looking at that anxiety when it came to my kids, and money, and my relationships, and fascism, made me want to revisit concepts just to remind myself that it’s all gonna be whatever it ends up being…

Now if i can only get people to stop playing videos out loud on their phones at the gym and re-racking the weights… those currently being my stressors. All in all, not so bad, eh?

[Connie Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a genuinely insightful and well-structured book. Chopra shared different philosophical views on anxiety, providing the reader with background knowledge and context for his own empowering perspective on accepting, understanding, and living with anxiety.

My only (minor) gripe was that his writing style felt a little pretentious at times, it doesn't detract from the book's compelling message. I'd give the book 4.5/5 stars if I could.

"We will always be anxious; it informs us that we are human, and curious to find what we might yet be."

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a pretty long-winded way to say "learn to live with anxiety rather than fight it" but I appreciated the nuanced reframing of anxiety through the lens of popular philosophical concepts. The perspective on anti-anxiety medication was interesting and I was very compelled by the Kirkegaard section. There are bits and sections of this book that have already stuck with me as I examine my relationship with my anxiety. I just wish the writing was a bit more digestible.