Aaron Krivitzky

The Philosophy of Character Vertigo: an Essay on Choice, Anxiety, Freedom, and the Self Aaron Krivitzky

Literature & metaphor help us find meaning in a confusing, disorienting, and perhaps indifferent world. Great minds have used stories to bring this problem to fruition: Kierkegaard had his dread; Sartre had his nausea; Heidegger had his anxiety. I have my vertigo: the fear of falling amidst the desire to let go. When you find yourself on the edge of a precipice, do you cower away, or embrace the abyss? We are - like characters in any story - bound to continue living our lives, until they are over. And just like those characters, we know our stories inevitably end, we just don't know how. What you choose to do in your life constitutes the very fabric of your character. Are you afraid to fall. . . or afraid you'll jump?