“a fear of” vs “fear of”

[curtisy]

I don't understand why there is no "a" before either "fear of" in the following sentence.

“There are many types of fear, but the two that inhibit iconoclastic thinking and people generally find difficult to deal with are fear of uncertainty and fear of public ridicule.” — from Cambridge 9 Test 2 Reading Passage 3

Can I add "a" before "fear of" in this sentence?

 

[emsr2d2]

I don't understand why there is no "a" in before both either "fear of" in the following sentence.

"There are many types of fear, but the two that inhibit iconoclastic thinking and people generally find difficult to deal with are fear of uncertainty and fear of public ridicule."

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If possible, Can I add "a" before "fear of" in this sentence?

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[curtisy]

Welcome to the forum.

Before we answer your question, you must provide the source and author of the quote. This is a legal requirement on the forum due to the strict copyright laws in the UK, where the forum is based.

Thank you for the reminder. I have corrected it as you requested.

 

[emsr2d2]

In that quote, "fear" is simply used uncountably. You could add the indefinite article before them but it's not necessary and would, in my opinion, be less natural.