Summary Of A Phenomenology Of Fear: Merleau-Ponty

340 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Agoraphobia and everyday life

In the article “A phenomenology of fear: Merleau-Ponty and agoraphobic life-worlds,” Davidson explored the Merleau-Ponty’s philosophical idea of space such as ‘lived’ space and ‘objective’ space on a single case who was agoraphobic. Lived space according to Merleau-Ponty is one’s own self-projection and the social relation to his/her environment. It is an abstract space that one perceives and produces through engaging in activities with the objective space or others. Objective space on the other hand is a physical and tangible space that people can see and measure. Davidson’s argument was systematic yet very philosophical. She started the article by introducing agoraphobia; then she introduced Merleau-Ponty’s concepts of space. Lastly, she

Show More
Related

  • The Dangers of Fear

    948 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Dangers of Fear Irish Playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.” Inhumanity is mankind’s worst attribute. Every so often, ordinary humans are driven to the point where they have no choice but to think of themselves. One of the most famous examples used today is the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night demonstrates how fear is a debilitating force that causes people to lose sight of who they once were.

    Read More

  • Schizophrenia in The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn Saks

    1573 Words  | 4 Pages

    The ‘me’ becomes a haze, and the solid center from which one experiences reality breaks up like a bad radio signal. (Saks, p. 13)” These words are the description of schizophrenia, written by a woman who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, Elyn Saks. Her book, The Center Cannot Hold, is the memoir of Sak’s own life experience and her struggle with schizophrenia, or as she puts it, her journey through madness. Although her journey did not lead to a full recovery, as is the case with many individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, Saks was able to live and maintain a life, despite her very negative prognosis.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Macbeth And Oedipus The King

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Brothers Karamazov Fyodor Dostoevsky said, “…fear is simply the consequence of every lie.” Dostoevsky is stating how people are afraid of what will happen when their lie(s) is/are put out in the open. Fear is a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined. This line suggests that people are afraid of the truth, which inevitably is the consequence of every lie. Even though this quote was written by a 19th century author it can still relate to texts that were made centuries prior. Both Sophocles and Shakespeare’s plays support Dostoevky because both plays deal with the act of lying and its consequences as a major motif.

    Read More

  • symbolizing ones humanity

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...technique suggest that it is a precipitation in fantasy of his lifelong sense of loneliness and exclusion” (Angus 70).

    Read More

  • The Connection between Civilization and Individuals in "Civilization and Its Discontents" by Sigmund Freud

    584 Words  | 2 Pages

    Freud begins to create the map of mental life through the ideas of the ego, the id, and the superego. The ego, or consciousness, is the manner in which a person first realizes tha...

    Read More

  • Existential Approach

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    A key concept of the approach is that anxiety is a condition of living and that the problems which people face are embedded in anxiety through loneliness, isolation, despair and death. Having an awareness of death and non-being gives an importance to living.

    Read More

  • Biography of Sigmund Freud

    2812 Words  | 6 Pages

    Sigmund Freud has been heralded as one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century. He is renowned for his discoveries about the human mind, particularly dreams, fantasies, and the role of the unconscious. Even though many of his theories were (and are) viewed as controversial, his ideas revolutionized the way people think about themselves. The potency of his notions have permeated almost every discipline, including literature, art, and medicine. This paper will examine the life, the influences, and the impact of Sigmund Freud. It will begin by discussing who he is, his personal history, and then talk about his role in the development of psychoanalysis. Next it will discuss some of the individuals who greatly inspired Freud. Finally, it will move on to talk about some of those upon whom Freud was an influence.

    Read More

  • The Face of Fear

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop and look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, '...I can take the next thing that comes along.'...You must do the thing you think you cannot do (Eleanor Roosevelt)." Every time I read these words, I am able to see the truth in them. College to me is the next step that I must take in life. Although this next step comes with much trepidation and apprehension, it is a necessary step that I must take to forever better and prepare myself for the life that I wish to lead. State University would be one of the best institutions for this, just as the choice of high school I made four years ago, Good Counsel, was the next step for me then. During high school, I have grown and changed through not only the education I have gained, but also through the activities I participated in. I have gained a lot of strengths from my time spent in high school. Although every weakness has not been erased, the next step in life will ease their numbers even more.

    Read More

  • Theories Of Existential Homelessness

    409 Words  | 1 Pages

    Carney and Miller (2009) state how the strange and vague are personified in marginalised ways. The strange becomes a target for order and control; they are elements that need to be rationalised. By having selective access to space, as Bauman (2000) suggests, emic strategies to eject the unwanted and control the strange can be obtained. Bauman further suggests that the purification of space is a natural response and is expected in society.

    Read More

  • Psychoanalysis, Culture, and Trauma

    2660 Words  | 6 Pages

    Cathy Caruth’s “Psychoanalysis, Culture, and Trauma” claims that “to be traumatized is precisely to be possessed by an image or event” (Caruth 3). This idea of possession is seen in Edgar Allan Poe’s “Ulalume” through the narrator’s enigmatic journey toward his dead lover’s grave. Throughout the poem, the narrator unknowingly works to overcome the trauma that is associated with “surviving” the event of his lover dying. The narrator is seemingly able to understand the true cause of his trauma through the use of the paradoxical duality of attraction/repulsion and familiar/unfamiliar contained in the “Uncanny” as described by Sigmund Freud in “The Uncanny.” The narrator uses the information gained from his trance-like walk to realize his repressed trauma; thus, creating a way to communicate what is deep inside of him in a manner that allows others to understand their own pain. By closely examining the ways in which the narrator uses the “Uncanny” to both access his own unconscious to obtain information essential to his understanding of his own trauma and to validate his relationship to the world, the poem anachronistically—because the poem is written prior to Freud’s scholarship—suggests that while there are varying degrees of consciousness in respect to the trauma itself, one can come to understand, or witness, the crisis of the trauma through the use of the “Uncanny” as a form of psychoanalysis.

    Read More

  • The Necessity of Fear

    2004 Words  | 5 Pages

    A tall man in a long black coat is seen walking past the window of an elementary school with a large brief case. That sentence is enough to make almost any American’s skin crawl for a moment. Change the word man to woman, and all of those uncomfortable feelings change to normal and nothing out of the ordinary. How can this be? Everyone has experienced that unpleasant sensation of fear creeping into their bodies at least one time in their life. Maybe it was watching a horror movie or walking through an unfamiliar part of town at night, but this sensation is unlike any other feeling that humans can produce. It can become the most important survival instinct that a person can rely on. Although, in our day and age, as Dr. Karl Albrecht states, "Fear seems to have gotten a bad rap amongst most human beings." Fear is certainly not the most popular feeling and emotion that occurs in humans. People today view fear as a nuisance, and it tends to be regarded as a quality of the weak and helpless. With the education of knowing that fear is essential, people would discover that fear can quickly become any human’s most valuable resource. An analysis of fear, and recognizing its importance, confirms why fear is still needed in humans for survival today.

    Read More

  • The Third Policeman: A Lesson in Absurdity

    1575 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, or a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. O’Brien asks the question, If life is absurd and meaningless, why couldn’t death be absurd and meaningless? To tie this back to consciousness, O’Brien shows that just because it cannot be seen, how do we know it doesn’t exist? All of Freud’s findings are essentially as meaningless as the world O’Brien has created; an existentialist world of chaos and that the notion of the absurd contains the idea that there is no meaning to be found in the world beyond what meaning we give to it. It is O’Brien’s introduction to the world of bicycles having characteristics of humans and boxes, so tiny they camnnot be seen, and elevators into eternity, we are asked to suspend disbelief and understand O’Brien’s satire.

    Read More

  • “Primal Fear”: A Psychological Analysis

    529 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Primal Fear” (1996) is a masterfully crafted film based on the novel written by William Diehl. Aaron Stampler (the main character) was on trial for the murder of an archbishop. He cunningly convinces his psychiatrist as well as his defense attorney (Martin Vail) that he suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. Stampler then plead for insanity successfully and was transferred to a mental institution for “help”. In the end, the audience shockingly discovers that Stampler had been lying the entire time about his alter ego; he manipulated everyone and clawed his way to freedom. “Primal Fear” provides excellent insight into psychopathy and contains subconscious themes the writer projects through the actions of the main characters.

    Read More

  • Psychoanalysis in Modern Theory: An Inheritance from Sigmund Freud

    2001 Words  | 5 Pages

    Long regarded as the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) lives on today as an incredibly influential and powerful figure in the applied discipline of psychology. For Freud, it was his intense study of dialogue and interplay of involuntary human communication that ultimately led to his conclusions concerning the human unconscious. In contemporary studies, these conclusions have evolved into many of the distinguished, and more importantly controversial theories we associate with his name: the Oedipus complex; castration anxiety; penis envy; repetition compulsion; repression; etc. Much of the contention surrounding Freud is grounded in the belief that his works instituted notions that cannot be proven scientifically, such as personality development in infantile stages; sexuality in unconscious desire; and the unconscious drives behind human mannerism. Yet, despite the fact that many of Freud’s theories have not withstood the test of scientific scrutiny, few can argue against the fact that Freudianism is still impactful and has permeated other branches of modern theory. To prove this point, we can bring to attention the names of two modern theorists that have not only built upon Freud’s ideas in their work, but have consequently expanded his influence into other realms of literature, and other spheres of study. Harold Bloom (1930 – present) and Jacques Lacan (1901-1981) are only two notable thinkers that extend Freud’s ideas and have gained far-reaching influence in intellectual life. In response to this revival however, new opponents of Freud have found the opportunity to retaliate with their concerns and arguments. Nevertheless, the presentation of human identity and unconscious by Freud’s opponents and successors c...

    Read More

  • The Motivation and Consequences of Fear

    583 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today’s society fear is the cause of most violence. Fear is motivated in a lot of ways from TV to face on face interaction. Society should learn to overcome fear and be moti-vated by desire to be seen as free and equal. In this essay I’m going to give examples of cases where fear played a big role that caused problems. To enlighten the negatives and positives that fear has to show.

    Read More

More about Summary Of A Phenomenology Of Fear: Merleau-Ponty

Open Document