Single Idea 20755

[catalogued under 23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 3. Angst]

Full Idea

Anguish is distinguished from fear in that fear is fear of being in the world whereas anguish is anguish before myself.

Gist of Idea

Fear concerns the world, but 'anguish' comes from confronting my self

Source

Jean-Paul Sartre (Being and Nothingness [1943], p.65), quoted by Kevin Aho - Existentialism: an introduction 5 'Radical'

Book Reference

Aho,Kevin: 'Existentialism: an introduction' [Polity 2014], p.73


A Reaction

I'm guessing that the anguish comes from the horror of the infinite choices available to me. Once you've made major life choices with full commitment (such as marriage), does that mean that existentialism becomes irrelevant?