Iris Murdoch: Is It Important to Ask a Philosopher What He or She Is Afraid Of?

Iris Murdoch said we should all be most afraid of death. So if someone is afraid of anything other than death, then they might not be in touch with the world in some fundamental way. I'm amazed by how few people appearing on the podcast have mentioned fear of death in answer to this question. And sometimes that's because they have selfless fears about other people they care about or the world. What's puzzling to me is when their fears are about themselves, but not about death. It may also be that my fear of death is just sort of pathological. It's not a guide to anything in reality.