The Concept Of Anxiety: A Simple Psychologicall... Apr 2026

The work you are referring to is , published in 1844 by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard under the pseudonym Vigilius Haufniensis .

Kierkegaard famously defines anxiety as the . He illustrates this with the image of a person standing on the edge of a cliff: they feel a natural fear of falling, but also a terrifying, dizzying impulse to throw themselves off. This dizziness arises because the person realizes they have the absolute freedom to choose their next action. The Concept of Anxiety: A Simple Psychologicall...

In this seminal text, Kierkegaard explores anxiety (or angst ) not as a medical disorder, but as an essential, ontological part of human freedom. Below is an overview of the book's core arguments and historical significance. The "Dizziness of Freedom" The work you are referring to is ,

: While anxiety itself is not sin, it is the state that precedes the "qualitative leap" into sin. In his analysis of the Garden of Eden, Kierkegaard suggests Adam felt anxiety when faced with the choice to obey or disobey God. This dizziness arises because the person realizes they

: For Kierkegaard, "more anxiety = more spirit". Animals do not experience this existential dread because they lack the self-conscious freedom that makes humans "spirit". A Comparative Theology of Schleiermacher and Kierkegaard

: Anxiety is the awareness of what could happen; it is the "possibility of possibility".