The Denial of Death
Ernest Becker's 1973 Pulitzer-winning study of how fear of death shapes human life.
At a glance
Key ideas
Hero systems, Human character as a vital lie, Kierkegaard as psychoanalyst …
See all 4Influence
Terror management theory
Connections
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Becker argues that most human action is an attempt to ignore or avoid the inevitability of death.
- Civilisation itself is a defence against knowledge of mortality, and people try to transcend death through culturally standard hero systems.
- Character forms around this denial, which lets people function but hides real self-knowledge.
- He draws especially on Kierkegaard, Freud and Otto Rank.
Why it matters
- It is the main source of terror management theory, which tests its ideas empirically.
Key facts
- Author
- Ernest Becker1
- Published
- 19731
- Award
- 1974 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, two months after Becker's death1
- Later printings
- From 1997, with a foreword by Sam Keen1
Key ideas
-
Hero systems1
Fear of death drives people to transcend it through culturally standard hero systems and symbols.
-
Human character as a vital lie1
A chapter title stating the book's view of character.
-
Kierkegaard as psychoanalyst1
He reads Kierkegaard as a forerunner of depth psychology.
-
Otto Rank1
Rank's work closes the gap between psychoanalysis and Kierkegaard.
Influence
-
Terror management theory1
Developed from the book, it gives empirical support to Becker's ideas.
Connections
Written by
Links
Sources
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