On Panic

Discussion of articles that appear in the magazine.

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Philosophy Now
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On Panic

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Jai
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Re: On Panic

Post by Jai »

There is profound connection between panic as dread, morality and religion. S. Kierkegaard was an inspiration to modern psychology particularly with his book 'The Concept of Dread'. The author of this article here in PN seems to think panic is some passing fad in philosophy. Rather the truth is that today, some twenty years after this was written, panic attacks have come to be a common concern. The challenge of searching ethical understanding is to face the ongoing crises going on the world forum; the number and extent are beyond simple tabulation, but are forms of war, poverty and abuse of the power of authorities, and others. These problems have been around since the human being turned away from the Divinity that was embodied in his search for knowledge. In this world, many can try to put away insecurity, fear, terror by many means; medicating with addictions, verbal denial, taking refuge in the shelter of comfort if one is so lucky. To be the true philosopher queen or king is to voluntarily and consciousness face the vulnerabilities of lives, to be willing to feel dread, panic, fear in the world media and our own environments to do our best to keep the balance on moral respect, empathy for those who have much less than ourselves, and not being too judgmental. I found it hard to appreciate what this article focuses on; at time he seem spiritually inclined, but for the most part he puts a low value on the practicality of ethics. Socrates in the Republic never uses the exact phrase 'philosopher king'. The concept was embodied to a limited degree in Alexander the Great who was a student of Aristotle, and one of the few world conquerors who placed a high value intellect and ethics, in his own tyrannical way. No!, Socrates and any philosopher, theologian, mother or father abhors the Machiavellian fascists who turn life into a excruciating struggle.
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