The Denial of Death - Ernest Becker
Read 05.03.2020
“In these pages I try to show that the fear of death is a universal that unites data from several disciplines of the human sciences, and makes wonderfully clear and intelligible human actions that we have buried under mountains of fact, and obscured with endless back-and-forth arguments about the “true” human motives.” (xvii-xviii)
“For centuries man lived in the belief that truth was slim and elusive and that once he found it the troubles of mankind would be over. And here we are in the closing decades of the 20th century, choking on truth.” (xviii)
I begin my reflection of The Denial of Death with the regret that I am ill-equipped to provide a thorough analysis. It is a challenging read—the most difficult book I’ve encountered thus far. However, even if I understand only a fraction of its contents, I am in awe of Ernest Becker’s ability to unite what seemed to be the collective whole of human psychology and conscious experience under a single overarching theory. I can say with confidence that reading this book has fundamentally shifted my perspective on individuality and the psychological consequences of being human.
I write with the hope that the process of reviewing The Denial of Death elucidates the behavioral changes that must occur for my actions to align with my current understanding of its insights.
“We respect Adler for the solidity of his judgment, the directness of his insight, his uncompromising humanism; we admire Jung for the courage and openness with which he embraced both science and religion; but even more than these two, Rank’s system has implications for the deepest and broadest development of the social sciences, implications that have only begun to be tapped.” (xxii)
Becker cites a plethora of psychologists and scholars in its related fields, but most frequently endorses the stances of Otto Rank, an Austrian psychologist and Freudian dissident. I haven’t heard of Rank before The Denial of Death, which is a surprising realization in hindsight. I thought his arguments to be much more convincing than what is taught in any introduction to psychology classes. When I learned of psychoanalytic theory, behaviorism, or even humanism, I found my experiences with the human psyche to diverge from their claims. I understood how their interpretations were conceived, but none encouraged a reevaluation of my perspective on human psychology. Rank, however, or at least, through the explanations provided by Becker, has convinced me to do so.
On that note, let us dissect The Denial of Death chapter by chapter.
Ch. 1: Introductions: Human Nature and the Heroic