Democratic Societies under the Spell of the Culture of Fear

The perspective of Martha C. Nussbaum and Pope Francis

Abstract

Fear seems to be one of the typical features of modern life, emerging as a ‘culture’ and a perspective for interpreting life. After a brief discussion on Martha Nussbaum’s perspective on the role of fear in our societies, this article analyses the vision of fear that emerges from Fratelli tutti with reference to what Pope Francis calls the “culture of walls”. Next, it addresses the idea and practice of fraternity in the encyclical: can it constitute an “antidote” to the culture of fear?