To Be Remembered: Exploring Coping Mechanisms for Death Anxiety Through the Lens of Ernest Becker

Abstract

If there was a field combining existential psychology and cultural anthropology, Ernest Becker would have been the founding father of that field (Becker’s Synthesis – Ernest Becker Foundation – Illuminating Denial of Death, n.d.).   Ernest Becker’s intellectual contributions have earned a lot of accreditations. One of those accreditations is Pulitzer Prize for his 1973 book, “The Denial of Death”. This is not simply a book, but a tool to make an individual question their purpose, meaning in life and most importantly their perspective on life and death (Becker’s Synthesis – Ernest Becker Foundation – Illuminating Denial of Death, n.d.).  Becker argues that the primary force behind human behaviour is the deep-rooted existential anxiety caused by thinking about one’s own mortality (Becker’s Synthesis – Ernest Becker Foundation – Illuminating Denial of Death, n.d.). His perspective on death making it a driving force behind human behaviour provides revolutionary perspective, providing a multidisciplinary approach from the fields of psychology, philosophy and anthropology (Scimecca, 1979). It’s ironic that Becker’s proposition about achieving symbolic immortality can be reflected through his last book that he wrote before dying titled “Denial of Death”. It is worth noting that this book is the contemplation of Becker’s own confrontation with mortality through terminal illness (Becker, 1997). This paper aims to explore the core facets of Becker’s “The Denial of Death” along with providing its empirical evidence.