Critchley's Thoughts on Anxiety
In Critchley's article, " To Philosophize Is to Learn How to Die" he focuses on the topic of anxiety but more specifically, anxiety during a pandemic. Throughout this article Critchley gives very specific examples of how a pandemic like COVID-19 can heighten or even bring anxiety to a person. This pandemic has caused an overwhelming sense of worry in people's everyday lives that wasn't there before. For examples, many people may feel uneasy and scared when they are around a larger group of people in fear of getting COVID. Many people may think that anxiety is brought on by fear, however this is not the case. Critchley characterizes anxiety as not being able to focus or concentrate because your mind is being taken over by the presence of the anxiety. Anxiety is a mental issue that causes your mind to make up scenarios on a irrational level while fear comes from a real life object that is likely to cause pain or be a threat. The idea of philosophy comes