Why Fears Cannot Be Irrational

The experience of fear is one that many people can relate to on some level, even if the object of their fears differs widely from person to person.  The intensity, impact, and emotional factors of fear are psychological variables that likewise vary from one individual to another.  What all people are capable of experiencing amidst fear is the the process of asking themselves if their fear is somehow irrational, especially if the fear seems trivial or extremely rare.  Understanding what fear does and does not establish about oneself can be both philosophically enlightening and emotionally relieving, therefore.

Understanding rationality, however, is a prerequisite to understanding anything else whatsoever.  Rationality (or intelligence) is how soundly and well someone grasps the laws of logic.  It is nothing more and nothing less than this; the person who utilizes their ability to use and align themselves with reason without making assumptions is rational no matter what condition the rest of their mind is in.  Someone can be rational without knowing everything they can learn about their own fears from introspection, and they can be rational without being able to will any particular fear away.

Fear is not irrational even when it is directed towards something that is not threatening or significant because fear is a subjective state of mind as opposed to a belief about the nature of something.  An emotion or attitude might suddenly seize someone without warning or remedy, but this does not disrupt their intellect unless they allow it to.  In other words, the emotions a person experiences do not represent his or her ability to reason out logical facts about various matters or what they believe about any given thing.  Some people might call certain fears irrational, but it is never really the fear itself that is irrational.

"Irrational" fears, or phobias, might be defined as fears that are disproportionate to the object of fear's nature or as a fear of something that poses no psychological or physical danger.  However, even though some fears do not reflect the true nature of whatever the fear is harbored for, it is still misleading at best to call any fear irrational.  How a person handles fear can signify their rationality or lack of it, but the fear itself is always a purely subjective mental state that could have nothing at all to do with someone's beliefs or how they intend to live in light of their fear.  No one forsakes reason by experiencing that which they have no direct control over.

Whether the fear in question pertains to deeper, existential terror or fright over more practical matters, it can be very helpful to reflect on the fact that random fears do not make one rational or irrational.  The extent to which someone has sound beliefs is the extent to which they are intelligent.  Irrationality is merely an alignment with logically erroneous thinking and beliefs, meaning that experiencing subjective fears, especially ones that cannot be dismissed by willpower, cannot make someone irrational.  What they believe reflects their intelligence, and their actions can reflect their beliefs.