Books : The Denial of Death
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 128.5
EAN: 9780029021507
ISBN: 0029021502
Label: Free Pr
Manufacturer: Free Pr
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: 1973-11
Publisher: Free Pr
Sales Rank: 823685
Studio: Free Pr
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Product Description:
Winner of the Pulitzer prize in 1974 and the culmination of a life's work, The Denial of Death is Ernest Becker's brilliant and impassioned answer to the "why" of human existence. In bold contrast to the predominant Freudian school of thought, Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie -- man's refusal to acknowledge his own mortality. In doing so, he sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates more than twenty years after its writing.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Reading the reviews of this book are both humorous and intriguing. Among them there are widely varying explanations of what this book is about. I won't summarize my own view, for fear of inventing something new, but instead refer you to the back, inside flap and preface, which summarize the book neatly. I just wanted to say this is one of the most interesting and compelling books I have ever read. It's definitely on my top five list.
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This book gave me two lessons. First Becker masterfully shows us how and why our society is now driven by our fear of death. Second, he reaffirms the imperative of inter-disciplinary learning, even as hyper-specialization becomes more common.
I first stumbled on this book as a young Psychology and Philosophy major in university; its intersection with my studies seemed beyond coincidence. I had just completed work on Kierkegaard, and I was personally reading up on Rollo May and Carl Rogers. Freud had left me feeling like a loser, a dark product of repression since birth and yearning to kill my father ever since. These writers gave me some hope.
But Becker went beyond psychotherapy for me. He tied together what I was embracing in Philosophy as well as my life experience, synthesizing important constructs in a way I hadn't seen before. He re-arranged thoughts in my mind until my heart plummeted downward and found roots in my soul. I remember not sleeping much in the three days it took to ingest this incredible work.
Becker's main premise is that modern man is lost in a mountain of knowledge, useless to him not only because it's impossible to ingest it all, but because he no longer has a "throbbing vital center" with which to synthesize it. The age of specialization has brought a multitude of competing fractured data, while the major insights of our age are ignored. Modern man, in rejecting a central core, has allowed the fear of death to ... Read More
Rating:  -
The man knew how to write and obviously was VERY good in his trade..You can easily follow his ideas and where he wants to go with them...I agree with most...but where I disagree is in his focus on religion...If you read the book with an open and critical mind you'll end up with the view that all his efforts to sell religion as the big cure for neurosis and all other human obsessions are very weak not to say nonsense..These efforts are not based on any evidence and are just another call to "faith". His conclusion is this..accept another illusion, religion, and you'll have some self-transcending cosmological state of mind with support from an "invisible man in the sky" who knows all and has all the power and then you'll be cured..Simply substitute reality for a "naive" illusion...But if you follow Becker's line of reasoning, then religion is just another transference object...Maybe you'll be happier but still living an illusion..
Whether you like it or not, we came here by accident and the meaning of life is what you make out of it...Yes I accept and understand that a lot of people need religion to go ahead with their lives, but this comes out from cowardice or ignorance or arrogance or a combination...
But this issue aside...it is a good read...
Rating:  -
While difficult at times, this book is profoundly meaningful. The basic premise that I have gotten out is that we deny death in order to live normal lives without being overcome with the anxieties of death. There is a lot of background reading that could be helpful (kierkergard, freud, and especially Otto Rank). But even for the laymen it is a book that will make you think about purpose, meaning, and life.
Highly recommended for anybody searching for understanding about life and is not afraid to read about such a heavy topic.
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Ernest Becker was a great summarizer of others ideas. He takes an idea like "How can people be happy when they know they will die?", and then looks at the works of psychologists to find their opinion. The result of his effort is a masterpiece.
Becker writes clearly, gives credit to others, and draws new conclusions by analyzing the insights of his reading. You can understand a majority of the ideas in one reading. But if you're like me, it will move you deeply.
Stop and ponder: One day, you will die. This book delves into how people stay happy, sane and persevering with the only guarantee in our life being the fact that all of it leads to this end.
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