Publication Details

Abstract

Stefano Micali’s book Phenomenology of Anxiety (2022) can be perceived as an attempt to articulate the essence of anxiety in a way that could revitalize this important phenomenon for the 21st century’s philosophical discourse. We are used to various approaches to this topic – from ordinary psychology, through traditional psychoanalysis and sociology to philosophy, where mostly existentialist views and definitions are enriched by later phenomenological and neurobiological investigations. Micali’s earlier analyses of temporality, déjà vu, fear or phantasy form the basis for developing a more comprehensive, non-reductive phenomenological definition of anxiety in the post-Husserlian sense. The chosen methodology of phenomenological polyphony enables the coexistence and interaction of different perspectives without pitting them against each other, reflecting the ambiguity of the investigated phenomenon itself. This paper aims to provide an approach, including remarks concerning its validity and usability for contemporary phenomenology and beyond.