A Concept Confusion Emerging from Kierkegaard Philosophy: Is It Worry or Apprehension or Anxiety or Fear?

Abstract

Anxiety was initially noticed and conceptualized by Søren Kierkegaard. After the concept of anxiety has been noticed, it has found a place for itself in various fields not only in philosophy but also in psychology, medicine, sociology, history and literature; and it has led to the emergence of new assessments, researches and results in these fields. However, the use of the concept in different fields brought a concept confusion together. In some old sources, this concept, which corresponds with the word “fear” was generally tried to be mostly explained with meaning of worry and anxiety in psychology, with the meaning of worry and apprehension in sociology and history, and with the meaning of worry in literature and philosophy. On the contrary, these are different concepts having different meanings. Another factor that supports the confusion is the translation problem. This study searches for the answer to the question about which word can best meet the concept of Kierkegaard; and aims to contribute to eliminating this concept confusion.