Fear is the strongest emotion, as well as the most misunderstood. We refuse to explore its secrets, we worry about it as an enemy, but – both as individuals and as a species – we have no choice but to live with it. Fear is a wake-up call: it signals the presence of a threat and prompts us to flee, but then sometimes it suggests suspending our flight, getting to know what we fear in order to transform the hidden danger into an unconcealed risk, to be faced and overcome. These are the two faces of fear. The first urges us to defend what we already have and our identity, as when we lock the doors to our homes. The other encourages us to open those doors and cross the threshold, to discover what we can be and have. But there is also a fear that turns into terror or anguish, exposing us to danger and preventing curiosity from enriching our lives. This leads to much suffering and moral misery, as well as hatred for those who do not belong.

Roberto Escobar formerly taught Political Philosophy at the University of Milan.