DE Weekly: Peterson, Kierkegaard, & Anxiety
Below is an archived email originally sent on January 13, 2025.
Peterson, Kierkegaard, & Anxiety
The crux of existentialism is its contention with the human condition. We are born into this world without our choosing, we must contend with the totality of our freedom, and we are forced to make a series of choices that define the meaning of our life.
I’ve written about the human condition before–what the existentialists thought about it, what their suggestions were to face it…
But there’s a deeper layer to the human condition we must question:
Why do we have this freedom? And further, why does it cause profound anxiety–existential angst–when we think about it?
Existentialism emerged as a profound symptom of its time. I think the reason it remains so poignant is because we’re still entrenched in the related philosophical worldview.
There’s no shortage of intellectuals discussing the same questions today. One such person is Dr. Jordan B. Peterson.
Recently, he’s done so by dissecting the biblical texts. He can get stuck in the weeds in doing so–his desire to psychologize theology to death can be frustrating–nevertheless, he revives centuries-old philosophies I find worth examining.
In his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience Episode #2180 from last year, Peterson shares a thought on a major biblical message that also happens to be a major existential argument.
He states that life can’t just be about defense against “death anxiety”. He says it has to be about more–about adventure, ultimate adventure, and welcoming everything about life that is “terrible, painful, and malevolent.”
Peterson isn’t the first person to explore this. Søren Kierkegaard, sometimes called the “Father of Existentialism”, did so almost 200 years ago.
Like the existentialists who succeeded him, Kierkegaard recognized the anxiety, angst, and dread that comes with our existence. For him, this stemmed from “freedom’s actuality as the possibility of possibility.”
Let me explain.
Kierkegaard uses an example of a man standing on the edge of a tall building, or the edge of a cliff. When he looks over the edge, he experiences dread at the possibility of falling and plunging to his death. At the same time, he might even feel an impulse to intentionally throw himself off.
This is an analogy for our complete and utter freedom–the same freedom Jean-Paul Sartre says we are “condemned” to.
We can either throw ourselves off the edge, or stay put.
The fact that we have the possibility and the freedom to do something–anything, even the most terrifying of possibilities–is what triggers this existential angst.
Hence the famous Kierkegaard quote: “Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.”
The reason I chose Kierkegaard as a comparison to Peterson is the relation of these questions to biblical stories.
In exploring existential anxiety, Kierkegaard focused on what he called the “first anxiety of man”: Adam eating from the forbidden tree in the garden of Eden.
Before he ate from the tree, Adam had no knowledge of good and evil, as they did not exist to him.
He did not know that eating of the tree was evil, just that it was forbidden. This caused anxiety for him–an anxiety which derived from his absolute freedom to either obey God or not.
Ultimately, he disobeyed. Thus, sin was born. For Christians, that hereditary sin is with us today; it’s what’s called “original sin”.
Here’s why that story is prescient to existentialism…
The way Kierkegaard sees it, anxiety precedes sin. The anxiety we all feel in life is the presupposition for original sin. The sin we are all born with is the knowledge of good and evil. In other words, the sin is the fact that we are free.
We are free to obey or disobey. We are free to throw ourselves off the edge or stay put. Because we know what is good and we know what is evil, we are free. This is why even Sartre, ever the staunch atheist, sees this freedom as a condemnation–a sin.
Here’s the good news, though…
That very same freedom and resulting anxiety is the same way we can be saved (read: live a life of meaning).
Kierkegaard says this anxiety informs our choices, enhances our self-awareness, and allows us to take responsibility for our actions.
Peterson says that as a consequence of accepting this responsibility, we can find our calling and undertake a transformation so complete that we can come out a different person.
We can thrust ourselves from the woes of “un-self-consciousness” into self-conscious reflection.
Yes, we are utterly free in this life to choose what we may. Yes, this utter freedom is terrifying. And yes, it is a condition that with it brings some level of existential dread.
But it’s natural. It’s part of being human. It’s as old as Adam and will outlast you, me, and everyone else in this world.
“Follow the call of adventure. Aim upward, continually remind yourself of your fundamental goal, and then let go of everything that isn’t appropriate as you transform forward.” –– Jordan B. Peterson
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Brandon J. Seltenrich
P.S.––
Hopefully this edition showed you a bit of what I’d like to make more well-known: existentialism is not a dead philosophy. It’s alive and well, its tenets still a major underlier of today’s intellectuals. So much to explore.
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