The Denial of Death
by Ernest Becker
A Pulitzer Prize-winning analysis of humanity’s relationship with the idea of death, heavily influenced by Otto Rank, Sigmund Freud, and Søren Kierkegaard.
Scholar and cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker analyzes human behavior and symbolism as it relates to death. Unlike other creatures, man senses the concept of eternity. Yet man’s need for air and even his need to relieve himself reminds him daily that he is an animal. This dualism between the symbolic and the carnal creates psychological conflict. Man needs to continually repress his knowledge of the reality of death by trying to justify his importance in the universe. He must stand out somehow, be a hero, make the biggest possible contribution to the world, or otherwise show that he counts more than anything or anyone else. Becker refers to these attempts as “heroism projects” that assuage this psychological conflict and function as a reflex against the terror of death. According to Becker, all conflict that exists in the world is at the intersection of competing heroism projects between individuals and cultures. There is a discussion of religion as providing an “immunity bath” to solve the problem of mortality. Becker believes that religion is an incomplete solution because today’s society has difficulty fully believing its fantastic claims. At the same time, Becker posits that science cannot solve man’s mortality problem either. Becker suggests that we question our conceptual self, shrug off the heroism projects, and examine more freely our values. We can only be our truest selves if we are unrestrained by an illogical quest for immortality. There is much of value in this work, however it is dated by its use of patriarchal ideologies and male dominance. As an example, Freudian themes are examined, such as the “Oedipal project,” the “castration complex,” and “penis envy.”
A thought-provoking and award-winning discussion of man’s fear of and reaction to the knowledge of his eventual death.