Comments on: The Denial of Death

By: Culture of Fashion – Urban Times

Culture of Fashion – Urban Times — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:31:55 +0000

[...] The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker explores our attempts to avoid death, or at least avoid thinking about it. Becker suggests that cultures set up hero systems through which each member can be an important contributor to society and feel at peace with the awareness of their limited life. In his concluding paragraphs Becker observes: Modern man is drinking and drugging himself out of awareness, or he spends his time shopping, which is the same thing. As awareness calls for types of heroic dedication that his culture no longer provides for him, society contrives to help him forget. [...]

By: Cathy

Cathy — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:47:08 +0000

I read The Denial of Death (and have revisited it many times since) 35 years ago when I was 16. The deep influence it had on me has never faded. It is like no other book I have read before or since. What it captures is something quite profound and special.

By: Things are Broke. Can Ruin Porn Help? | Rust Wire

Things are Broke. Can Ruin Porn Help? | Rust Wire — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:32:38 +0000

[...] difficulty is visceral. Existential. Physical decay is a reminder of personal mortality. And folks don’t like to think about that. So demise becomes what happens to somebody else. Or to the inner city, a region even. [...]

By: Nanomodernity’s Epicurean Challenge – In Conversation with Jason Silva » MuseumViews

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 21:32:39 +0000

[...] I read The Singularity Is Near around the same time that I was really into Ernest Becker’s The Denial Of Death – a book which laid bare the reality of the human condition. SO my thinking was this: we [...]

By: george

george — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 08:02:48 +0000

its a good book

By: Forrest

Forrest — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:24:42 +0000

Phil,
Bingo! Great summation of this discussion. Becker was jewish, in the way most followers of Becker understand. It was the cultural anchor he wanted to live in this world. It gave him comfort and he understood why he was doing what he was doing.
A truly brilliant man.

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:46:15 +0000

“The very last sentence of the Denial of Death book is “The most that any one of us can seem to do is to fashion something – an object or ourselves – and drop it into the confusion, make an offering to it, so to speak, to the life force”.

What a strange, enigmatic sentence. Is he speaking in despair, jest, cynicism, or hope? Perhaps, all of the above. This book does a wonderful job of starting the original philosophy project of self-reflection, know thy self. For the first time reader though, one is left with a sense of emptiness, as if the ground and meaning of your life had been suddenly put into serious jeopardy. Then what?”

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes…you have summed up what anyone who reads the book ultimately comes to find out…EB had no answer to the problem, and I don’t think he failed to understand this–it’s just that he had no answer and knew it…and when you realize that he himself believed in a god, you realize that you are on your own to ”fashion that something”….

By: Jane

Jane — Thu, 19 May 2011 09:45:51 +0000

I think the vital lies makes life more enjoyable, tolerable. If life ends in death and if death means submitting to the oblivion then, I guess the vital lies I make to myself since birth may well be worth it. I think the reason we don’t fully realize that death is inevitable is because it kills the fun out of life. sorta like a movie spoiler.

I also think that life is all about the random experiences rather than just a state of hopelessness. I believe since birth, in the back of our heads we know we’ll die, but our focus is more on living and experiencing that’s why we try a bunch of hobbies and learning a lot of things as we’re growing up so if ever we die- or submit ourselves to nothingness – we know that the experience of living and dying has its significance.

Or we could just forget all about these and believe there are just things we’ll never completely understand as humans. Perhaps, E. Becker is right when he said humans have a limited body and limitless mind.

By: Jeff Shafer

Jeff Shafer — Sun, 01 May 2011 23:30:23 +0000

Denial of Death had a strong influence on me as a Christian. Becker’s remarkably succinct views on the effects of our denial caused me to translate it to “Christianese”, if you will. What does a Christan fear more than death but the fear of the non-existence of God, and what role does this play in the forming the modern Christian world.

When a viable immortality ideology is accepted, the encapsulation of death is largely complete and set aside with much relief. However, an entirely new “project” is introduced, and among other things, it includes the defense-at-all-costs of this ideology and every aspect of its creed. In a way, we begin to remove God and replace him with the visible and the measurable. Instead of drawing near to God, we draw near to these replacements. Drawing near to God is too risky – after all – what if he’s not there?

By: Effective Leadership FAQ | Leadership

Effective Leadership FAQ | Leadership — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 15:35:13 +0000

[...] degree in Leadership Psychology. He is also a writer at the Ernest Becker Site and co-wrote The Denial of Death [...]