The Denial of Death
Review of The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
Winner of Pulitzer Prize in 1974
Having never been a big reader of psychology, I’m not sure why I decided to read this book, but I'm glad I did. This book shows our non-stop scream for help from a terrifying world and an even more terrifying knowledge of death. A summary of what I learned is not really viable, since I underlined or highlighted something on practically every page - but here's my best shot...
The author begins by praising Kierkegaard’s amazing diagnosis of the human condition and summarizes:
“he has an awareness of his own splendid uniqueness in that he sticks out of nature with a towering majesty, and yet he goes back into the ground a few feet in order blindly and dumbly to rot and disappear forever. It is a terrifying dilemma to be in and to have to live with.” (page 26). He summarizes Eric Fromm just 2 pages later wondering “why people did not become insane more often in the face of the existential contradiction between a symbolic self, that seems to give man infinite worth in a timeless scheme of things, and a body that is worth about 98 cents. How to reconcile the two?”
He then moves on to basically the main point of his book. Becker claims from birth we repress the truth in order to live with this terror - we are going to die.
He explains how we set up idols in our lives to transfer all the human values we have like love, intelligence, courage, etc and worship at the feet of whatever we’ve transferred them to. We want so badly the affirmation from something outside ourselves to give us a sense of self-worth and we crave immortality. None of this works because whatever or whomever we transfer these values to dies as well. We try to keep them alive (names streets after them, buildings, statues, etc) but in the end it’s just an illusion.
Then on page 173 is a very stark admission:
“…that the only way out of the human conflict is a full renunciation, to give one’s life as a gift to the highest powers. Absolution has to come from the absolute beyond.”
Page 175 – check out the conclusion not of a pastor or theologian but of a psychoanalyst who gave his life to psychology (and also not a theist of any sort).
“Man is a theological being…and not a biological one.”
And finally skipping to the very last page, Becker summarizes Norman Browne:
“He realized that the only way to get beyond the natural contradictions of existence was in the time-worn religious way: to project one’s problems onto a god-figure, to be healed by an all-embracing and all-justifying beyond.”
I found myself in awe at the conclusions of so many non-believers. If I was to summarize the conclusion found in this book it would be as follows:
The best possible thing you could be in this life is a Christian. There is no better way to be happy.
Don't misunderstand me - that is NOT the conclusion Becker offered! It's just the obvious one based on the problem. Why don't they see it?
JESUS SAVES!
Winner of Pulitzer Prize in 1974
Having never been a big reader of psychology, I’m not sure why I decided to read this book, but I'm glad I did. This book shows our non-stop scream for help from a terrifying world and an even more terrifying knowledge of death. A summary of what I learned is not really viable, since I underlined or highlighted something on practically every page - but here's my best shot...
The author begins by praising Kierkegaard’s amazing diagnosis of the human condition and summarizes:
“he has an awareness of his own splendid uniqueness in that he sticks out of nature with a towering majesty, and yet he goes back into the ground a few feet in order blindly and dumbly to rot and disappear forever. It is a terrifying dilemma to be in and to have to live with.” (page 26). He summarizes Eric Fromm just 2 pages later wondering “why people did not become insane more often in the face of the existential contradiction between a symbolic self, that seems to give man infinite worth in a timeless scheme of things, and a body that is worth about 98 cents. How to reconcile the two?”
He then moves on to basically the main point of his book. Becker claims from birth we repress the truth in order to live with this terror - we are going to die.
He explains how we set up idols in our lives to transfer all the human values we have like love, intelligence, courage, etc and worship at the feet of whatever we’ve transferred them to. We want so badly the affirmation from something outside ourselves to give us a sense of self-worth and we crave immortality. None of this works because whatever or whomever we transfer these values to dies as well. We try to keep them alive (names streets after them, buildings, statues, etc) but in the end it’s just an illusion.
Then on page 173 is a very stark admission:
“…that the only way out of the human conflict is a full renunciation, to give one’s life as a gift to the highest powers. Absolution has to come from the absolute beyond.”
Page 175 – check out the conclusion not of a pastor or theologian but of a psychoanalyst who gave his life to psychology (and also not a theist of any sort).
“Man is a theological being…and not a biological one.”
And finally skipping to the very last page, Becker summarizes Norman Browne:
“He realized that the only way to get beyond the natural contradictions of existence was in the time-worn religious way: to project one’s problems onto a god-figure, to be healed by an all-embracing and all-justifying beyond.”
I found myself in awe at the conclusions of so many non-believers. If I was to summarize the conclusion found in this book it would be as follows:
The best possible thing you could be in this life is a Christian. There is no better way to be happy.
Don't misunderstand me - that is NOT the conclusion Becker offered! It's just the obvious one based on the problem. Why don't they see it?
JESUS SAVES!
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