The Tears inside the Stone: Reflections on the Ecology of Fear

Abstract

The ecology of fear & incoherence that has emerged in contemporary society is examined. The modern individual is besieged by processes of individualization & objectification that produce, at the individual & societal level, conditions that result in cycles of fearfulness: (1) gnostic denial of the nature of humans as dependent beings; (2) confrontation with the impossibility of certainty & control; (3) children's denial of neediness in order to be loved & honored by adults; & (4) confrontation with humanity's inescapable dependence on undependable & hubristic institutions for environmental well-being. D. Generoli