E-W Dialogue on Fear With Desh Subba

I want to share my excitement and some research going on through co-writing, where Desh Subba (author of Philosophy of Fearism) and myself are joining forces across the world, he in Nepal/Hong Kong/India (with a following) and me in North America (with a following). I won't say much except you can look him and his book up on the Internet to know more, and I have written a book review of his work on amazon.com. Below is the rough draft Abstract to a long technical article on how my own philosophy of fearlessness is blended with his philosophy of fearism, and I have adopted his term as well because it is a spin of a new branch of existentialism, which makes a lot of sense. I'll let you know when we publish this full paper. I am convinced it is one of the most important documents out there 'leading at the edge' of thought on fear and fearlessness today. I look forward to your comments, as does Desh.

The Basic Epistemological Problems of Fear in a Philosophy of Fearism

 

R. Michael Fisher[1] & Desh Subba[2]

© 2015

 

Abstract

 

The philosophy of fearism (coined by Subba), is arguably the newest branch of thinking from roots in existentialism, giving focus to the nature and role of fear as the primary shaper of human life. However, the major question behind this paper is the epistemological problem of how do we know fear? Knowing it better will lead to managing its shaping power better. Collaborating for the first time, each author brings forth a unique perspective (E. by Subba, W. by Fisher) to this radical philosophy for the 21st century, which they argue is practical, social and ethical in philosophical orientation. Building a holistic understanding, the authors use four strategic contexts in which to unfold their research and experience with fear and developing their philosophies: (a) Autobiographical and Philosophical, (b) Anthropological and Cultural, (c) Epistemological, and (d) Educational and Ethical. The focus of this essay on (c) and the epistemological problems behind such a new philosophy and fearist perspective, has to do with both disrupting habitual, and taking charge of, the ways we know fear. Epistemological issues blend into political issues because the power of fear is a great power that has to be worked with mindfully and critically. The educative and ethical point of their work on a philosophy of fearism is to not participate in fear-mongering about the future and crises we face as humanity. The authors’ outlook is revolutionary, positive, and yet realistic. They argue that we require a critical philosophy of fearism, with operational studies and practices from (at least) new fields of fearology, fearanalysis, and feariatry. As well as helping people to manage fear better and suffer less, they want to expand and diversify who controls the knowledge about fear and how it is managed and brought into our socialization and education.

 



[1] R. Michael Fisher is a Canadian, an artist, educator, scholar, lecturer, author and self-proclaimed postmodern fearologist with graduate degrees in rehabilitation studies, adult education and curriculum philosophy and design. He is co-founder of the In Search of Fearlessness Project (1989-) http://www.feareducation.com and founder of the Center for Spiritual Inquiry and Integral Education, and Department Head of Integral and ‘Fear’ Studies, htttp://csiie.org. He currently researches, writes, and consults as a private human development consultant (http://loveandfearsolutions.com) living in the USA. He can be reached at rmfisher.88@frontier.com

[2] Desh Subba is Nepalese, a poet, novelist, philosopher and public intellectual. His leading work on a philosophy of fearism has led to his involvement in setting up the Fearism Study Centre in Dharan, Nepal. He is currently working in a security company and lives in Hong Kong with his family. His website is http://fearismphilosophy.com and he can be reached at fearism@gmail.com

E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of Fearlessness Movement to add comments!

Join Fearlessness Movement