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The Philosophy and Therapy Podcast · John T Maier

#33: Maria Balaska on Anxiety and Wonder

·40 min·2 clips
The philosophical concept of anxiety is future-directed, but toward possibility, not just loss.
John T. Meyer opens by welcoming Maria Belaska and pointing to her book Anxiety and Wonder. The first question is what anxiety and wonder have in common, and Maria answers by treating them as moods marked by a lack of definition; she also brings up boredom as another example of a mood without a definite object, which helps explain why these states matter philosophically. From there, John asks whether the issue is really existence or something more ontological, and the conversation turns to how the world is present to us and how intelligibility can clarify what these moods reveal. He follows up by asking whether presence and intelligibility are separate ideas and which one should come first. The discussion then moves to Genesis, where Maria suggests that a good reading should begin with human life itself, with its struggle, ambivalence, and repeated difficulty in finding our feet in life. The episode closes with thanks, a reminder of the book title, and a mention that links will be in the show notes.

As heard by us

A thoughtful exchange about anxiety, wonder, and the ontological reach of moods.

Maria's conversation with John T. Meyer turns on a subtle question: what anxiety and wonder have in common when neither points to a fixed object.

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Why you'd press play

You want anxiety and wonder unpacked without the motivational glitter.

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