UNE professor of philosophy discusses creepiness on Australian radio
David Livingstone Smith, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, was recently interviewed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for its “Late Night Live” radio program. Smith discussed the question: what makes some people and things creepy and others plain scary?
The interview was inspired by an essay, titled A Theory of Creepiness,” that Smith recently published in the digital magazine Aeon.
Smith explained his view of how creepiness differs from fright. “Creepiness is something which is, I think, quite distinct from fear. So we feel fear when we have a sense that we are in danger in some way. There is some sort of actual or impending threat. But creepiness is an attitude of simultaneous fascination and repulsion, so when we encounter something creepy, we’re drawn to looking at it at the same time we want to get away from it.”
In response to the radio interview, the Australian Broadcasting C orporation published an article online that quoted Smith extensively. It focused on the portion of Smith's interview in which he discussed the creepiness of clowns.
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