ThoughtGallery.org > ONLINE | COVID-19, Fear and Attachment Theory with Howard Steele

ONLINE | COVID-19, Fear and Attachment Theory with Howard Steele

This talk will review psychoanalytic theories of anxiety and fear, including reference to Sigmund Freud, Otto Rank, and John Bowlby. In addition, the book based on Rank’s thinking entitled ‘Denial of Death’ (by Ernest Becker) will also be summarized together with ‘terror management theory’ that emerged in social psychology out of the work of Becker and Rank.

The question will be raised as to what is the fundamental anxiety or fear in human life? The contrasting answers (fear of one’s personal death or fear of separation from loved ones) will be considered. Evidence that ‘attachment security’ moderates or lessens fears of one’s own death will be reviewed, and the argument that separation anxiety is the fundamental human fear will be advanced, together with an argument for ‘mentalizing’ fear — contextualizing it, understanding the causes and consequences of fear, and preparing for a future where we are all less vulnerable to fear. A call for prosocial heroic action aimed at safeguarding our planet and its inhabitants will be made.

Presented by Howard Steele, Professor of Psychology.

Prep reading: “COVID-19, Fear and the Future”











When: Mon., Jun. 22, 2020 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Where: The New School
66 W. 12th St.
212-229-5108
Price: Free
Buy tickets/get more info now
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This talk will review psychoanalytic theories of anxiety and fear, including reference to Sigmund Freud, Otto Rank, and John Bowlby. In addition, the book based on Rank’s thinking entitled ‘Denial of Death’ (by Ernest Becker) will also be summarized together with ‘terror management theory’ that emerged in social psychology out of the work of Becker and Rank.

The question will be raised as to what is the fundamental anxiety or fear in human life? The contrasting answers (fear of one’s personal death or fear of separation from loved ones) will be considered. Evidence that ‘attachment security’ moderates or lessens fears of one’s own death will be reviewed, and the argument that separation anxiety is the fundamental human fear will be advanced, together with an argument for ‘mentalizing’ fear — contextualizing it, understanding the causes and consequences of fear, and preparing for a future where we are all less vulnerable to fear. A call for prosocial heroic action aimed at safeguarding our planet and its inhabitants will be made.

Presented by Howard Steele, Professor of Psychology.

Prep reading: “COVID-19, Fear and the Future”

Buy tickets/get more info now