The Denial of Death is a very profound book ( 314 pages) , by Ernest Becker,who got Pulitzer Prize in 1974 for this book ,two months after his death.Becker quotes profusely Otto Rank ,Kierkegaard and Freud to make his points clear.He died at the age of 49.5 years .The book is full of some incredible insights.
Becker says that all human beings have death anxiety.The fear of death haunts us like nothing else.To transcend the sense of mortality, all human beings seek to do heroic acts.Seeking heroic acts is the central fact of human nature, as it helps us to become a part of some thing eternal.Heroism is a way of defying death by means of achieving lasting value outside of one's transient self. From birth till death , every human being is living to identify and pursue an immortality project till he dies.Becoming conscious of one's own method of heroism is the primary self-analytic problems of life,Becker says. People yearn for fame , anticipate it ,hope that through it , they could create their own immortality."Immortality means being loved by many anonymous people."It means living in the esteem of men yet unborn, for the works that you have contributed to their life and betterment.
Two motives or urges that seem to be part of creature consciousness and point in opposite directions.One is a powerful desire to identify with the cosmic process ,to merge with the rest of nature.On the other hand , is the desire to be unique, to stand out as something different.The heroic striving for a Beyond gives self-validation , which is needed to live .This transference is due to fear of death on one hand and due to heroic attempt to assure self-expansion and connection to surrounding nature.
Romantic love is also a continuation of the causa-sui project (immortality project),it is also a lie that must fail.True heroic validation of one's life lies beyond sex, beyond the other("Thou"), beyond the private religion, beyond the consolations of others and of things of this world.People "tranquilise themselves with the trivial"- so they can lead normal lives.The essence of normality is the refusal of reality.In this sense,some kind of objective creativity is the only answer man has to the problem of life.
Otto Rank says: "With truth ,one cannot live.To be able to live,one needs illusions,not only outer illusions such as art,religion,philosophy, science and love afford, but inner illusions which first condition the outer(i.e. a secure sense of one's active powers, and of being able to count on the powers of others).The more a man can take reality as truth, appearance as essence,the sounder , the better adjusted , the happier will he be . . . this constantly effective process of self-deceiving , pretending and blundering , is no psychopathological mechanism.". Life is possible only with illusions..When we talk about the need for illusion, we are not being cynical.On what level of illusion does one live?It depends on how much freedom , dignity , and hope a given illusion provides.These three things turn our minds to creative living.
Human character is a vital lie.Man lives by lying to himself about himself and about the world.The failure to build dependable character defences allows the true nature of reality to appear to man. Anxiety is the result of the perception of the truth of one's condition.Anxiety leads to possibility only by destroying the vital lie of character, the vital lie of cultural conditioning.
Becker quotes Ferenczi : " The need to be subject to someone remains as we grow up;only the part of the father is transferred to teachers , superiors, impressive personalities;the submissive loyalty to rulers that is so wide-spread is also a transference of this sort". .Freud provided the best insights ever into the psychology of leadership in his great work "Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego".Men abandon their egos to the leader's,identified with his power,try to function with him as an ideal.
Becker finally quotes Tillich " Man has to have courage to be himself, to stand on his feet, to face up to the eternal contradictions of the real world" .
This book has the power to change the way we look at life and the world.You will understand why people want fame and immortality.I recommend you to read it.It is worthy of your time.
Two motives or urges that seem to be part of creature consciousness and point in opposite directions.One is a powerful desire to identify with the cosmic process ,to merge with the rest of nature.On the other hand , is the desire to be unique, to stand out as something different.The heroic striving for a Beyond gives self-validation , which is needed to live .This transference is due to fear of death on one hand and due to heroic attempt to assure self-expansion and connection to surrounding nature.
Romantic love is also a continuation of the causa-sui project (immortality project),it is also a lie that must fail.True heroic validation of one's life lies beyond sex, beyond the other("Thou"), beyond the private religion, beyond the consolations of others and of things of this world.People "tranquilise themselves with the trivial"- so they can lead normal lives.The essence of normality is the refusal of reality.In this sense,some kind of objective creativity is the only answer man has to the problem of life.
Otto Rank says: "With truth ,one cannot live.To be able to live,one needs illusions,not only outer illusions such as art,religion,philosophy, science and love afford, but inner illusions which first condition the outer(i.e. a secure sense of one's active powers, and of being able to count on the powers of others).The more a man can take reality as truth, appearance as essence,the sounder , the better adjusted , the happier will he be . . . this constantly effective process of self-deceiving , pretending and blundering , is no psychopathological mechanism.". Life is possible only with illusions..When we talk about the need for illusion, we are not being cynical.On what level of illusion does one live?It depends on how much freedom , dignity , and hope a given illusion provides.These three things turn our minds to creative living.
Human character is a vital lie.Man lives by lying to himself about himself and about the world.The failure to build dependable character defences allows the true nature of reality to appear to man. Anxiety is the result of the perception of the truth of one's condition.Anxiety leads to possibility only by destroying the vital lie of character, the vital lie of cultural conditioning.
Becker quotes Ferenczi : " The need to be subject to someone remains as we grow up;only the part of the father is transferred to teachers , superiors, impressive personalities;the submissive loyalty to rulers that is so wide-spread is also a transference of this sort". .Freud provided the best insights ever into the psychology of leadership in his great work "Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego".Men abandon their egos to the leader's,identified with his power,try to function with him as an ideal.
Becker finally quotes Tillich " Man has to have courage to be himself, to stand on his feet, to face up to the eternal contradictions of the real world" .
This book has the power to change the way we look at life and the world.You will understand why people want fame and immortality.I recommend you to read it.It is worthy of your time.
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