“The Monarchy of Fear: A Philosopher Looks at Our Political Crisis,” her latest book, opens with a familiar flash of angst for many, Election night 2016, and lands presciently in a summer that’s delivered a daily buffet of anxieties, political, social and financial. Like much of Nussbaum’s work, it is a philosophy lesson culled from the details of everyday living. And yet what follows is less predictable — a clear-eyed excavation of the foundation of our fears. I visited Nussbaum at her office recently. What’s here is a shorter, edited version of a longer conversation.

Q: What is fear?

A: Fear is the sense that there are things that are bad for you and your well being, looming over you, and you are not fully in control of warding them off. That is how Aristotle defines fear and what everyone agrees on. Fear can also be archaic and infantile. We have fear as soon as we are born, we are born into a state of physical helplessness. Humans can’t do anything to get what they want for quite a long time. Unlike horses we can’t even stand. So we are in a state of constant fear — “Will I ever have my hunger assuaged?” It leaves a mark. Then we learn we will die. We learn early on, and fear never goes away, we are all powerless over it. So fear can be easily hijacked and grow out of control — arguably more so than other emotions, I would argue.

Q: When is the last time you felt fear?

A: I feel it often. Sometimes it’s productive nervous energy. Of course, the reason I began writing this book is that things were happening in this country that made me feel fear. But I recognized my own fear was not productive. It made me look for scapegoats. Fear leads to anger, and anger can make you feel in control of your fear — “I am not beset by terror! I will make those people pay!” But payback is generally a false allure. Other emotions like disgust and envy get revved up when we feel afraid, and we don’t want others to have the good things in life. You feel envy when you fear that you won’t have those good things — you want to spoil what people have because you feel powerless.

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