Dr Lauren Ware, Lecturer in Department of Philosophy, has been interviewed this week on The Owl, the postcast of the Brooklyn Public Philosophers forum, to discuss the philosophy of fear.
Brooklyn Public Philosophers is a forum for philosophers in the Brooklyn area of the US to discuss their work with a general audience, hosted by the Brooklyn Public Library.
The episode, posted on 31 October 2017, explores the emotion of fear and how it shapes our understanding of risk and danger.
The interview examines fear as a rational emotional response, and goes on to explore the cultural history behind Halloween as a celebrated holiday event. ‘Negative emotions, like fear, get in the way of accurate risk assessment,’ explains Lauren. ‘When we’re afraid, it makes fearsome events seem more likely to happen… fear makes us bad at imaginative tasks, [so] the ability to imagine possibilities is restricted.’
The full episode is available here: https://soundcloud.com/ian-olasov/episode-9-halloween-2017-lauren-ware-on-fear-rationality-and-halloween