Author, lecturer, and philosopher Desh Subba, a resident of Hong Kong, has utilized his passion for philosophy to, along with translator Rajendra Subba, collaborate on and create the book Philosophy of Fearism. Mr. Subba’s major premise is that various “fears” have been a perpetual impetus for all sentient beings from the beginning of Gaia Earth’s history until today. To counteract the deemphasis of this integral component, he sometimes waxes hyperbolically.
One definition of fear among several is: a chronic emotional state characterized by distress. We should naturally seek to eliminate this, as men should not be Nervous Nellies, but should instead be brave. However, many quixotically claim that all fear should be eliminated. Some even seek to exclude the fear defined as calm recognition or consideration of whatever may injure or damage. This wrongheaded thinking is foolhardy, leading to disaster.
For example, some people in my United States venture into ghettos or Third World countries, where they are attacked, robbed, kidnapped, or murdered. Also, many have dismissed the danger of the Coronavirus pandemic. So, they either failed to get vaccinated or refused to quarantine, thus ending up hospitalized or prematurely dead. Some had substituted the bizarre fear that vaccines contained microchips that our government used to track people.
Others abuse dangerous drugs, drive recklessly, or enter abusive relationships despite the warning signs. Yet others are foolishly careless in a variety of ways. In fact, eschewing necessary components of the fear-ist construct due to misguided bravado could culminate in oneself being the source of danger. That is, one “having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1st Timothy 4:1-2), which in today’s vernacular is a sociopath.
While mentioning Mr. Subba’s philosophy and my support of it, a friend vehemently argued against it, saying that we should fear nothing, not even fear itself. However, years back we were at a restaurant. A mutual friend ordered a flaming cheesecake. After it arrived the waiter pressed close, lit it, and whoosh! it overly erupted with a large fireball. Immediately my “no fear” friend’s eyes bulged out, and with a big frown, violently jerked backward. Then laughter erupted, and rightfully so. This should have exploded that false pretense.
Moreover, Desh understands that most people turn to religion not for spiritual enlightenment, but to escape fears of death, destructive forces, inability to cope with daily life, inability to meet worldly standards, etc. We mutually understand that such hypocritical people adopt phony fabrications of virtue.
Yet he also understands that religions produce their own fear of gods, hell, constrictive conservative values, failure to meet religious standards, etc. So, I must conclude that people, likely all, reject virtue-based religion not for scientific enlightenment as claimed, but to escape the aforementioned fears. They too hypocritically adopt phony masquerades of virtue.
Though Mr. Subba uses the word fear in superfluous fashion, so did ancient texts. Example: “The fear of the LORD is honor, glory, gladness, and a crown of rejoicing. The fear of the LORD maketh a merry heart, and giveth joy, gladness, and long life.”————Ecclus. (Sirach) 1:11-12 KJV 1611. And “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not perfected in love.” (1st Epistle of John 4:18 KJV 1611)
Far from classical wisdom literature contradicting itself, identical words often acquire antonymous definitions or nuanced shades of meaning according to context. Thankfully, as someone living in our Anno Domini twenty-first century, and whose native language is English, I have the luxury of a variegated panoply of quasi-synonymous words being at my service. Therefore, for “good fears”, I utilize such idiomatic words as: awe, alarm, cautiousness, conscientiousness, reverence, veneration, etc.
In lieu of “bad fears”, such terms as angst, cowardice, paranoia, phobias, superstition, trepidation, and suchlike. Yet other expressions still rely heavily on context, for example, anxiousness, aversion, dread, inquietude, suspicion, and worry. Mr. Subba is splendidly aware of these fundamental delineations. In fact, he gives numerous examples of absolutely essential concerns within the fear-ism construct. These include fear of crime, disease, homelessness, inclement weather, failing a test, starvation, etc. His correct conclusion is that being wary of such possibilities propels us to escape them and find betterment.
He also gives various examples of decisively harmful attitudes within the fear-ism construct. For example, blind obedience and trust of human authority, jealousy, various superstitions, obsolete concerns or those stemming from character weakness or misinformation, and finally, phobia. This culminates in his supplying an Appendix listing 537 alphabetized phobias, whether documented or alleged. In fact, Mr. Subba wisely dichotomizes fears into good and bad. So, for a secondary book title I would have: Life is Conducted, Directed, and Controlled by *Fears*, instead of *the Fear*.
Mr. Subba’s major premise is correct in that people throughout history understood that various fears govern creation to a large extent. Wise men also understood that fear is only possible with consciousness and knowledge of the feared object or circumstance. They also understood that humans thus had far more fears than other animals, animals with developed minds having more worries than those with undeveloped minds, and that intelligent humans had more pressing concerns than unintelligent ones. They were also aware that this double-edged sword could be redeemed as a predominantly productive force.
Since Mr. Subba concludes likewise, his philosophy is old in that respect. In other ways, his work is new and innovative. First consider his coining the words fearist, fearism, and fearology. Though no dictionary currently contains these words, they perfectly describe Mr. Subba’s construct and body of thought. Thoughtful men are rightful stewards and procreators of human language. Since I myself find it imperative to deny the existence of time as an entity, I have coined the words achronosist and achronosism.
Our ists describe what we are believers or disbelievers in. Our isms describe the prefixed philosophy. And Mr. Subba’s ology, like other ologies, is the study of said subject. He also considers modern science. For example, noting that behavioral experiments have been conducted with mice. Normal mice with an amygdala, the part of the brain involved in experiencing emotions, naturally fled from a cat. However, mice lacking an amygdala unwisely stayed to lick or chase the cat.
Also new is Mr. Subba’s classifying human fears according to historical epochs, cultures and regions, causes and determining factors, and other useful delineations. On one side, resembling a battery’s positive pole, his focus is harnessing natural fears as impetus for betterment. Consider his illustrative book cover showing a fish unsatisfied with his limited bowl and leaping into a bigger, better environment.
He also has an interesting conclusion that even plants like creeping vines react to a red-light alert when encountering drought or darkness, and thus spiral their tendrils outward towards water and sunlight, sometimes resulting in such vegetation blanketing homes like an emperor’s cloak. While I am from the western Occident, Mr. Subba is from the eastern Orient. Therefore, his book is peppered with Buddhist and Hindu perspectives.
However, he also quotes Greek philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates, and French philosopher Rene’ Descartes. To be precise, Philosophy of Fearism contains 195 source references, 80 diagrams, and an index. On the flipside, resembling a battery’s negative pole, Mr. Subba concludes that we can minimize (but not currently eliminate) bad fears, and he can show us how. This aspect is interwoven throughout his book.
Not until our afterworld’s final destination will all fears become obsolete, since former things will have passed away (Revelation 21:4). Though I disagree with some of his minor premises, his major premise is undoubtedly true, which should be the reader’s focus. And without hesitation I can confidently say that Mr. Subba intends to make our world a better place through his creative writing. Thus, I definitely recommend this book.
K C Sunbeam; author & video maker
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