The ontological character of anxiety

Abstract

We conclude from our analysis of Tillichian and Rogerian anthropology that anxiety is ontological in character. It is ontological because it is the necessary concomitant condition of the fact and structures of existence. Man is faced with one basic threat-the possibility of non-being. In an absolute form, he is threatened with the total extinction of being. In an absolute form, he is threatened with the total extinction of being. In a relative form, he is threatened with personal death and with the failure of personal fullillment-with the loss of being and becoming. Ontological anxiety has to do with the absolute threat of extinction and ontic anxiety with the relative threat to self-preservation and self-enhancement. From this condition there is no escape. Refusal to accept the inescapable results in neurotic anxiety, a nonessential concomitant of being which, therefore, can be removed. These distinctions are revealed by an ontological and phenomenological analysis of human existence that brings ontology and psychology into a complementary relationship.

Les aînés dans le monde au XXI° siècle

“…Aussi, dans le contexte de menace sociétale de grande ampleur, comme la pandémie de la COVID-19, qui entravent la compréhension et la prédictibilité de la réalité, les individus ont une tendance à ressentir l'anxiété ontologique qui est une forme spécifique d'anxiété existentielle (Hendrix, 1967). L'anxiété ontologique résulte de la confrontation de l'être humain à la forme ultime de menace, qui est celle de la prise de conscience du caractère potentiellement inéluctable de sa propre mort.…”

Book Review: Societies Under Threat: A Pluri-Disciplinary Approach

“…Nevertheless, the social psychological literature on threat also posits those various threats attempt to elicit specific anxiety-related processes and reactions (Jonas et al, 2014 ). Further, the omitted ontological anxiety, which is existential in nature, refers to the absolute threat of extinction of human being (Hendrix, 1967 ). As the contemporary threats exposed in the volume, the ontological anxiety that is unbounded in time and space tends to transcend our contemporary societies (Gustafsson and Krickel-Choi, 2020 ).…”

Meaning-making and rumour-mongering in the shadow of terrorism: The case of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris

“…Life and world seem comprehensible when people are able to discern coherent patterns that make sense of the whole (Martela & Steger, 2016), and these coherent belief systems provide an essential antidote to individuals' ontological anxiety (Reker & Wong, 1988). Ontological anxiety refers to the ultimate form of threat to human beings which is the threat of extinction (Hendrix, 1967). Indeed, according to the Terror Management Theory (Pyszczynski, Solomon, & Greenberg, 2015), the humans' awareness of the inevitability of their own death is particularly salient in threatening contexts such as terrorism.…”