Editing Existentialism (section)

=== Angst and dread ===
{{main|Angst}}

"Existential angst", sometimes called existential dread, anxiety, or [[anguish]], is a term common to many existentialist thinkers. It is generally held to be a negative feeling arising from the experience of human freedom and responsibility.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Plesa |first=Patric |date=2021-07-14 |title=Reassessing Existential Constructs and Subjectivity: Freedom and Authenticity in Neoliberalism |journal=Journal of Humanistic Psychology |language=en |page=002216782110320 |doi=10.1177/00221678211032065 |issn=0022-1678|doi-access=free }}</ref>{{sfn|Aho|2023}} The archetypal example is the experience one has when standing on a cliff where one not only fears falling off it, but also dreads the possibility of throwing oneself off. In this experience that "nothing is holding me back", one senses the lack of anything that predetermines one to either throw oneself off or to stand still, and one experiences one's own freedom.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-02-20 |title=Soren Kierkegaard and The Psychology of Anxiety |url=https://academyofideas.com/2018/02/soren-kierkegaard-psychology-anxiety/ |access-date=2024-05-07 |language=en-US}}</ref>

It can also be seen in relation to the previous point how angst is before nothing, and this is what sets it apart from fear that has an object. While one can take measures to remove an object of fear, for angst no such "constructive" measures are possible. The use of the word "nothing" in this context relates to the inherent insecurity about the consequences of one's actions and to the fact that, in experiencing freedom as angst, one also realizes that one is fully responsible for these consequences. There is nothing in people (genetically, for instance) that acts in their stead—that they can blame if something goes wrong. Therefore, not every choice is perceived as having dreadful possible consequences (and, it can be claimed, human lives would be unbearable if every choice facilitated dread). However, this does not change the fact that freedom remains a condition of every action.