World Editorial

Irrational versus reasoned fear

3 reading minutes

written by Jonas Follonier · 23 April 2020 · 0 comment

Le Regard Libre N° 61 - Jonas Follonier

There are times when we have good reason to be afraid, but we must never be afraid of reason. And with good reason: reason, the ability to think, reflect and reason, is one of the hallmarks of man, enabling him to master his animal instincts. One of man's passions is fear. Sometimes justified, sometimes not, this emotion relates to the survival instinct. Reason is the key to controlling it.

COVID-19 and the future of the planet can scare us. But should we equate these two fears? According to Aristotle, the great ancient Greek philosopher who inspired the first paragraph of this editorial, fear is the passion - or emotion - that arises from the prospect of an evil deemed inevitable. When this evil is deemed avoidable, it is audacity that seizes us, not fear.

But if fear refers to an inevitable evil, how can we even think of ways to act? I'd like to argue that there are two kinds of fear: irrational and reasoned. The formula is strong, yet it seems to me fair, balanced and easy to understand. It derives from the theory of reason as the rudder of our passions. If we admit that something like a faculty for weighing up the pros and cons enables us to aim for the good or, by default, the lesser evil, then it follows that even in a situation of absolute fear, there are ways of minimizing the evil that inescapably befalls us. Thus, a reasoned fear is one that has been managed through the exercise of reason.

«A classic liberal,» a friend told me last month, «that is to say, a radical,» he added with a smile, «is one who takes all issues into account.» This phrase stuck with me, and I believe it represents the very opposite of climate activists claiming, along with Nobel Prize-winning chemist Jacques Dubochet, that the climate is the only issue on which our governments must act. What does this have to do with my subject? Well, such foolishness - placing the environment as the exclusive domain for action - is a sign of defeat in the face of fear. To this fear-driven thinking, why not opt for a fear digested by thought?

In this case, a fear digested by thought would be a concern for the future of generations to come, to which we respond with general political reflection, including all parameters. And if possible without spontaneous vision. Where Greta's followers hit the nail on the head, however, is in the need to think long-term. The challenge that humanity has always faced is to be able to project itself into the future, but also, more broadly, to seek what is good in itself. The faculty that enables us to do this, according to Aristotle, is the will, which complements our sensitive inclinations.

So let's be aware of our fears without giving in to them, let's live with them without having them guide our decisions and actions. Man is blessed with freedom. His freedom comes from his rational will. In other words, human beings make choices as reasoned beings. To choose an option rationally is to do so with the knowledge that this option is the best, or the least bad, of those available to us. COVID-19, painful as it is, will not change man's nature, nor his mission: to act as a reasonable being.

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com