The cure of self-consciousness / by James Alexander.

  • James Alexander
Date:
1915
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The cure of self-consciousness / by James Alexander. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    24/176 page 4
    § 3. THE ROOT CAUSE OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS. Practically all who have studied the subject of self- consciousness are united in regarding fear, in some form or other, as the root cause of self-consciousness. ‘This may be traced in the etymology of the word fear, which is connected with the idea of travelling. A fearer was a traveller, a person away from home, away from friends and customary sights and sounds. The unaccustomed brought with it the dawning of the Self and the relation of that Self to other things—other people, animals, things; the traveller had now become self-conscious. It is easy to understand why fear must be regarded as the root cause of self-consciousness when we come to recognise the large part it plays in life. We fear God, man, devils, animals, things seen, things unseen and things non-existent, except in the universe of the imagin- ation, The abnormal fears of man have been classified under names that to the ordinary man are “ fearfully” sounding. These fears are technically called Phobias. It is not necessary to detail all these fears, a few will suffice. Thus a common Phobia is Agoraphobia—the fear of open spaces, such as a field, a wide street, a square, etc.; Monophobia is the fear of being left alone; Mysophobia is the fear of infection from germs; Claustrophobia is a fear of high places; Siderophobia is the fear of railroads. These abnormal] fears are often simple in origin. They may begin by reading or hearing about some experience in which such fears have played a part, or they may result from shock due to actual experience; but in essence they are alike in one respect—the person dwells on his fear until to think about it becomes a fixed habit. The list of common fears is endless, for every new invention of science adds to our fears. We fear to go to sea lest the vessel be wrecked, we are afraid to walk along the street on a windy day lest a chimney-pot may fall. We fear to cross a busy street lest a motor-car or
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