人生而爲知所恐懼的生靈，當無疑義。此一本能不僅在個人生命場景裡引起作用，亦對群體生活的組成樣式產生重大影響。本文旨在探討恐懼感在政治生活與政治理論的建構過程中所顯現的實質作用，就細部內容而論，集中討論的重點包括下列幾方面：（1）恐懼感的一般性質；（2）恐懼感的政治表現；（3)「不同的恐懼感之間的相互恐懼」及其政治關聯，以及寬容的可能作用。最後，本文亦將通過上述的討論，進一步考察政治的本質性特徵。

Politics can be conceived, on the one hand, as an active endeavor to pursue certain positive ideals, and as a defense mechanism aiming primarily at the diminution of specific sense of fear, on the other hand. The different ways political theorists perceive politics always tell some­thing (usually, meaningful something) about the inner secret of their fears. This article tries to examine how different senses of fear affect and shape political life in general and theoretical reasoning on politics. Sense of fear is a derivative passion born out of anxiety about losing one's desirable state whatever it may be. This passion concretizes the contradictory nature of politics and is written into the basic format of political and social conflict. Where there is political society, there definitely exists this explosive passion. This author concludes that the only heuristic way to lessen its destructiveness is through practicing toleration, though toleration itself is limited in effect.