A phenomenology of fear: Merleau-Ponty and agoraphobic life-worlds - This paper is dedicated to Jim Davidson, 1965-2000

This payer explores the nature of agoraphobic sufferers' fears of social spaces drawing on Merleau-Ponty's dual conceptions of 'lived' and 'objective' space. Merleau-Ponty's phenomenological approach highlights both the mediating role of sensations in acquiring a sense of identity and the importance of recognising the social (as opposed to the merely individual) construction of lived space. I argue that an approach capable of theorising agoraphobic 'being-in-the-world' requires just such recognition of the effect that other people have on the space that they occupy. The potential relevance of this approach for sufferers from agoraphobia is explored through a case study.