Abstract
This paper discusses
Becker’s life-force, cosmic process, and god-object. It is important to understand how these concepts affect our lives
and fear of death.
The life-force is an abstract mystery (mysterium tremendum) leading man to a belief in gods, the supernatural,
the sacred, or the transcendent (Wikipedia, 2008). In this paper, Becker’s dualistic life-force is compared to Zen’s
non-dualistic Nothingness. There are comparisons made between Becker’s ideas in Denial of Death and the philosophies
of Zen and existential nihilism.
Becker’s cosmic process is an all-pervading energy creating unity in nature. This paper discusses
man’s need to find meaning and purpose in the cosmic process. A sense of belongingness is vital to this process, so
man can transcend societal fictions and achieve cosmic heroism.
The god-object is a symbolic illusion used for transference. This
paper discusses the god-object as a deity of man’s own making. Man has a choice to either create a god-object, or free
himself from religious fiction. If man becomes attached to his god-object, he will suffer the emotional consequences of god-object
transference (causa-sui). Becker’s personal god-object is also discussed, and his hope for a future synthesis
of science and religion.
Conclusions are stated after discussing these topics.
Consciousness of Death
In Denial of Death, Becker says our primary repression stems from the knowledge that
one day we are going to die (Loy, 1990, p.152). He explains why our fear of death is so intense, “it generates many
if not all of the specific fears and phobias people experience in everyday life” (Kastenbaum, 2007). Becker wants to
know, why we act the way we do. In 1969, he wrote a letter to his friend Harvey Bates offering his insights about man’s
fear of death:
I have arrived at a definition, finally, of the human personality that I think accurately reflects the
basic truth: that what we call man’s personality or his life style is really a series of techniques that he has developed,
and that these techniques have one major end in view – the denial of the fact that he has no control over death or over
the meaning of his life. (Kenel, 1986, p. 389)
Society is a created fiction enabling us to imprint
meaning on our lives. “Social theory in Becker’s scheme has a dual task: to understand the fictions that man creates
and to point toward transcending them to insure freedom” (Scimecca, 1979, p. 62). In Denial of Death, Becker
speaks about this heroic search for finding meaning and freedom (p. 62).
Man’s Search for Freedom
Becker proposes that one day a synthesis of religion and science will lead man to freedom
(Keen, 1974, p. 71). Emile Durkheim, one of the founders of the discipline of sociology, suggests man’s fear of death
is the primary cause for creating most religions (Bryant, 2003, p. 119). In Denial of Death, Becker agrees:
Best
of all, of course, religion solves the problem of death, which no living individuals can solve...Religion, then, gives the
possibility of heroic victory in freedom and solves the problem of human dignity at its highest level (1973, p. 203).
To find meaning, two
ontological motives must be met: surrendering oneself to nature by merging into some higher meaning, and expanding oneself
as a heroic individual (Becker, 1973, p. 203). Only religion can give us hope, since it opens the door to the unknown and
the unknowable (p. 203).
Religion takes one’s very creatureliness, one’s insignificance, and makes it a
condition of hope. Full transcendence of the human condition means limitless possibility unimaginable to us. (p.
204)
In The Journals of Ernest Becker, 1964-1969,
Becker writes, man cannot be an atheist and must believe in a cosmic process to self-transcend and find meaning in nature
(Kramer, 2007, p. 436). Transcendence is our best hope of achieving “cosmic heroism” (Becker, 1973, p. 279). We
need courage to recognize our anxieties – caused by meaninglessness – by evolving into cosmic heroes desiring
freedom (p. 279). Cosmic heroism is, “sacred and mysterious” and cannot be rationalized or comprehended by man
(p. 284). According to Scimecca, Becker is referring to transcendence at its highest level of meaning as, “an invisible
and unknown level of power, the insides of nature, the source of creation, God” (1979, p. 67). Using this method of
religious transcendence, man can overcome the crippling fear of death (p. 67).
Transcendence can
be achieved by rising-above creatureliness, societal fictions, and self-created illusions. Transcendence is part of the cosmic
process leading to oneness with the life-force (Becker, 1973, p. 285). Therefore, transcendence leads to meaning, heroism
and immortality. Man can transcend beyond drugging himself out of awareness, spending time shopping, burying himself in psychology,
or other contrivances society has designed to help him forget (p. 284). Therefore, by transcending societal madness, man can
become a cosmic hero.
There is a connection between the cosmic hero and the life-force of mysterium tremendum, “In
its concrete existence, it transcends mere symbolic commands, and what is more natural than conforming to its miraculousness?”
(p. 212). Becker is referring to the existential and religious implications of the cosmic process. Like Kierkegaard, Becker
agrees with many of the principles of theistic existentialism. However, he also agrees with other religious and philosophical
ideas about the life-force, cosmic process and god-object.
Becker’s cosmic process (Cosmic Will) is similar to Hinduism’s awakened Brahman
- an incomprehensible and indescribable mystery (Das, 1952, p.147). Similar definitions of the life-force apply to: the ‘Manifest
Tao’, the ‘Ultimate Reality’ of Buddhism, the ‘Supreme Principle’ of Confucianism, ‘Kami’
of the Shinto, ‘The First Cause’ of Neo-Platonism, Hegel’s ‘Being’ and Kant’s ‘Thing
within Itself’. These abstract concepts are summarized by calling them, ‘the essence of the ultimate mystery’,
which can be something, nothing or both.
Becker is leading us to a transcendent connection between man and the essence of the
life-force. Zen calls this essence, ‘The Great Void’ or ‘Nothingness’ (p. 274). This Nothingness is
the essence “behind a mystery that we cannot understand, and it includes more than reason alone” (p. 284). The
question arises, ‘does the idea of merging into Nothingness make us feel better about ourselves?’ How does this
existential concept help us overcome our fear of death?
‘Nothingness’ as a Symbolic Category of Thought
We believe in fictions
to give our lives meaning. Accordingly, transcending cultural fictions can lead us to creating new fictions, such as becoming
one with a supreme Nothingness. While many religions teach the idea of merging into Nothingness, this too, may be a religious
lie that man has convinced himself of. If Nothingness is viewed as a symbolic category of thought, it becomes another fiction
reinforcing fear of death. Since there is no proof of a supreme Nothingness or a god-like being, a life-force
or cosmic process, these ideas may be as fictitious as any other illusions man is creating for himself.
To find true freedom, we must
understand the importance of our fictional creations, to see how seriously we try to sustain and reinforce these fictions
(Scimecca 1979, p. 62). We need these fictions to survive in a world filled with frightening, disgusting and absurd phenomenon
(Carveth, 2004, p. 422).
For many people, the belief of merging into Nothingness is better than the idea of rotting
in the ground. Having faith in an abstract Nothingness, can offer hope to those who have searched for meaning, found it, and
are afraid of losing it when they die. Therefore, merging with an existential Nothingness is better than visualizing bodily
decay and the terror and hopelessness that goes with it.
Cultural and Religious Views on Fear of Death
Followers of Western
religions may ask, ‘what is the meaning of my existence if I merge into Nothingness?’
These individuals may feel an increased fear of death filled with uncertainty, lack of control, and frightening possibilities
of an unknown fate.
Those having faith in a divine being (who is judging them after death), are creating a symbolic illusion called the
god-object. This ‘god-object illusion’ has the power to send them to Heaven, Hell, or other illusionary places.
Therefore, fear of judgment by an all-powerful anthropomorphic god-object, is a terrifying symbolic illusion in Western religions.
The Biblical god-object is a popular symbolic illusion for those reading The Bible literally. The illusions of a
Biblical ‘god-object and devil-object’, may continually and cumulatively, increase man’s fear of death.
Many people are convinced
they are going to a ‘real’ Heaven. These individuals will reject Becker’s after-death scenarios because
they are symbolic illusions of a life-force. The illusion of Heaven was created by the ancients, so their followers could
feel good about themselves. According to Scimecca, “In short, individuals simply
like to feel good about themselves in symbolic and organismic ways” (1979, p. 64). Followers of Eastern religions may
feel good about merging into Nothingness, but others expecting to go to Heaven will not feel good. Logically, merging into
Nothingness is as much of a cultural illusion as going to Heaven. Both are symbolic categories of thought, and both are trying
to make man feel better about his suffering in this world, and the bliss awaiting him in the hereafter.
We should choose the best of our
illusions to live by with as much freedom, dignity and hope as a given illusion can provide (Becker, 1973, p. 202). However,
the illusion of merging into Nothingness and the illusion of going to Heaven cannot provide meaning in itself. It is man who
must envision his future bliss and create meaning. He must see himself being swept up in a cosmic process that he feels good
about. As Becker says, we are animals in nature imposing symbolic categories of thought on raw experience (p. 62).
Transference
Becker quotes Rank as saying, “man yearns for a ‘feeling of kinship with All’….he
wants to be delivered from his isolation and become part of a greater whole” (1973, p. 152). Becker says that
man needs to transcend to “a self beyond his own self in order to know who he is at all, in order to feel that
he belongs in the universe” (p. 152). Freud thought man’s need for God was immature and selfish, but Rank understood
the idea of transcending to God as “an outgrowth of genuine life-longing, a reaching-out for a plentitude of meaning”
(p.153). As Rank points out, man has a “need to erect a god-ideal outside ourselves in order to live at all, and the
transference object fits the bill” (Loy, 1990, p. 159). According to Loy, “we choose cosmology for our own heroics”,
and “transference applies not just to people, but to existentialism, psychoanalysis, and Buddhism” (p. 160). Loy
says this form of transference is similar to the Buddhist term for attachment (p. 160). Becker agrees with Loy when he says,
“we seem to be stuck between transference in one form or another, or psychotically acknowledging the terror of our situation”
(p. 160).
Just as we choose
the best of our illusions, we also choose the best form of transference (p. 212). Rank says, we should strive for immortality
by positive use of object-transference (p. 212). Therefore, the best and most positive transference-object is, mysterium
tremendum (the life-force), or the Great Void of Nothingness of Zen (1973, p. 212). Becker’s idea of god-object
transference is similar to Buddhism’s idea of attachment, so it is important to discuss transference in the light of
the ‘causa-sui project’.
Emotional Consequences of God-object Transference
The causa-sui
project is a cultural lie that takes its emotional toll on the individual (Becker, 1973, p.117). Becker says there is “the
temptation to admit helpless dependence and to fight against that admission” (p. 117). Therefore, god-object transference
creates helpless dependence, as does ‘will attachment’ in Buddhism.
Man experiences the emotional toll of dependence,
when the god-object is not meeting his expectations. Therefore, when experiencing: the death of a loved one, a debilitating
accident, loss of income, shattering of a childhood dream, etc., man usually assumes his god-object has abandoned him. The
emotional consequences are anger, blame, guilt, disappointment, depression, resentment, hopelessness etc. He realizes his
trust in the god-object was misplaced and naïve, and he is emotionally devastated. To make things worse, this individual
is obeying societal, moral and religious rules, and suddenly finds himself being punished by a god who should have been rewarding
him. Therefore, god-object transference is a causa-sui.
The individual is responsible for believing in religious fiction,
and creating his own god-object illusion. His emotional suffering is being caused by his false beliefs and unrealistic expectations.
No matter how omniscient and all-powerful his god-object may be, no man is exempt from life’s hardships.
Western religions
teach their followers to believe in an external god-object. They are told when entering Heaven, they will find meaning, purpose,
and eternal life. Western religions chose this causa-sui as the best ‘mass symbolic illusion’ for their
followers. The men who framed these religions made sure their god-object provided the best form of transference for their
followers. Since billions of people have followed the teachings of Western religions, a form of mass-transference has attached
itself to infamous god-objects. These traditional religious frameworks have been used and abused for thousands of years. We
do not know how many millions of people are suffering emotionally by being forced to adhere to archaic religious dogma. These
emotional consequences caused by a religious fictions, fit the description of causa-sui.
Becker and Zen
Becker’s
book, Zen: A Rational Critique, speaks of the “highest possible value attached to the Zen revelation
of Truth” (1961, p. 142). He is critical of Zen’s coercive reform methods, but respects many of its ancient teachings.
Zen’s view of the cosmic process is a Cosmic Will, working through souls, to order the universe to its highest degree
of spiritual power (p. 142).
Becker was influenced by Eastern thought and was familiar with the teachings of Lao-Tzu and
Buddha. His is articulating his knowledge of Zen in Denial of Death, by describing the final merging of
man’s essence into the ‘life-driving force’ (Becker, 1973, p. 284). Becker says man’s individuality
drops into the confusion, and he makes an offering of it to the life-force (p. 285). By isolating just the merging process
itself, we can find a similarity between Becker’s cosmic-merging into mysterium tremendum, and Zen’s
cosmic-merging into Nothingness.
When comparing Becker’s life-force to Zen’s Nothingness, it is important to question whether
man can find meaning in such an abstract concept. Zen’s teaching of Nothingness is central to its religious philosophy.
Nothingness cannot be defined as an entity or substance, and all expressions of it in language, should be ignored and annihilated
(Nieda, 1962, p. 38).
According to Nieda, “With training, one can perceive “nothing”...and release oneself from
the crowded earth, and be open to expand oneself toward the infinitely broad sky” (1962, p. 40). Becker also
uses the word ‘expand’. He says there is a hidden and intangible God, who “allows man to expand and develop
by himself” (Becker, 1973, p. 202). This description of ‘expanding and developing’ suggests that man is
evolving, and his animal-mortal personality is expanding into an “individual heroic personality” (p. 203). Similarly,
Zen teaches that man is expanding by silencing the mind, and his mortal nothingness is expanding into the Great Void of Nothingness.
Becker says, “the creature is impelled by a powerful desire to identify with the cosmic process, to merge himself with
the rest of nature” (p. 152). His first motive is to merge and lose himself in something larger, “By surrendering
to the bigness of nature on the highest, least, fetishized level, can man conquer death” (p. 174-175).
By becoming a part of nature at the highest level, man feels a sense of belongingness which
is vital to the human condition (Kramer, 2007, p. 436). According to Becker, “This heroic belongingness is inherent
in the life-force itself, one of the truly sublime mysteries of creative life” (1973, p. 153).
There are also differences between
Becker’s and Zen’s philosophies. Becker refers to the “bigness of nature’’ as a manifestation
of matter or duality. (p. 174). Becker’s dualism makes mysterium tremendum into a ‘somethingness’,
as opposed to Zen’s non-duality and annihilation into Nothingness. Kim elaborates on this
point, “Zen suggests an attitude of non-duality...The absolute viewpoint can be attained only by transcending being
and non-being” (1955, p. 21). Steffney agrees with Kim’s views on non-dualism and the nature of the self, “For
Zen, wholeness is neither inner nor outer, neither subjective nor objective. There is simply Self, and all distinctions between
subjectivity and objectivity must ultimately disappear” (1975, p. 177). There is a difference between Becker’s
‘somethingness’ of nature, and Zen’s un-manifested Nothingness of annihilation. With Becker’s
manifested ‘somethingness’, man has a dual-natured belief allowing him to create a god-object illusion. With Zen’s
‘un-manifested Nothingness’, man has a non-dualistic belief, not allowing him to create a god-object or finite
deity. According to Kim, “The goal of a Zen Buddhist is to reach the state of mind in which he considers everything
as nothing, even his own self. Thus, the fundamental presupposition of Zen is absolute nothing” (1955, p.20).
In Western religions,
man believes in a finite, dualistic god-object. He is taught to worship it and have a personal relationship with it. He convinces
himself that his god-object loves him, and reunites with him in Heaven. This is Christianity’s cosmic process of ascending
back to The Father. Similarly, there is Aristotle’s idea of returning to The Prime Mover, and Islam’s idea of,
‘what emerges from Allah, goes back to Allah’. These religious philosophies teach a theology of ultimate purpose,
and a return to the dualistic god-object.
God-object illusions in Western faiths have the attributes of a father figure, who is rewarding
or punishing and judging his children. Zen’s non-dualism of Nothingness, posits no heavenly reward or punishment, no
soul progression or regression, and no loving acceptance or rejection by a higher power. There is, however, an opportunity
to experience peace, oneness and liberation from suffering by merging into the Great Void of Nothingness.
There is another important distinction
between Becker’s and Zen’s philosophies. In Zen, the individual’s intellect is of no importance. There is
no reason for thinking about cosmic heroism or believing in immortality. This is where “Zen takes a unique turn by eliminating
the various stages in the journey toward nothingness….Zen rejects revelation through scriptures, but, more important,
it claims to transcend the intellect as well” (Crowe, 1965, p. 32).
There is no God, Father or Creator in
Zen. There are no prayers, objects, or understandings of God’s Will. Becker distances himself from Zen by speaking of
science, the cosmic process and god-object. According to Nieda, “Zen does not emphasize the value of things or existence.
All verbal expressions are annihilated and therefore all scientific or logical methodology is ignored” (1965, p. 39-40).
In contrast to
Zen’s annihilation of everything – including scientific methodology - Becker’s goal is to “hand over
science to religion and show they have the same subject matter” (Keen, 1974, p.71). Zen does not place
importance on achieving goals in the outside world – only on the inner plane. Another of Becker goals is “to develop
a creative work with the full force of one’s passion, a work that saves one’s soul” (p. 173). In Zen, there
is nothing to accomplish, no need to express creativity, no ambition, and no existence of a soul needing to be saved.
The final difference
between Becker’s mysterium tremendum and Zen’s Nothingness, relates to enlightenment. In Zen, enlightenment
comes naturally through silence, meditation, and by deciphering illogical koans (writings). In Denial of Death, Becker
does not recommend these practices for achieving cosmic heroism. He does emphasize transcending societal fictions as a method
of enlightening oneself to the truth. This type of de-programming leads to cosmic heroism and a belief in immortality. In
contrast, Zen proposes a quiet, non-confrontational road to enlightenment. Through practice and discipline, Zen claims that
life can flow effortlessly to the highest realm of non-dualism, perception, and peace - Satori (Nieda, 1962, p. 41).
Man’s
Search for Meaning
According to Becker, we do not know the meaning of life. However, he gives us four levels
of meaning to live by.
1) The level of the true self; using our true talents and feelings - who we are deep inside (our
inner hero);
2) Being the most intimate extension of ourselves with a few intimate others;
3) Giving
power to symbols of allegiance such as the corporation, nation, science, humanity, etc.
4) Living
by the sacred; an unknown level of power, nature, the source of creation, God. (Scimecca,
1979, p. 67)
These levels of meaning are insightful and significant. However, it is possible that no meaning or purpose exists
for man. It is also possible he will not achieve cosmic heroism after transcending cultural lies. Once Becker exposes the
fictional nature of human existence, many hopeless scenarios are possible. Becker understands this dilemma:
My point is for man
not everything is possible. What is there to choose between religious creatureliness and scientific creatureliness? These
are not rhetorical questions, they are real ones that go right to the heart of the problem, ‘how to be a man’…The
whole thing is loaded with ambiguity impossible to solve. (1973, p. 259)
At times, Becker is encouraging and
wants us to find meaning, but at other times he is skeptical and pessimistic:
How do we know - with Rilke - that our part of
the meaning of the universe might not be a rhythm in sorrow? And we know that in some very important way this falsifies our
struggle by emptying us, by preventing us from incorporating the maximum of experience. (p. 284)
Since Becker is speaking
about sorrow, emptiness, ambiguity and the falsification of man’s struggle, it is important to review these pessimistic
attitudes in comparison to existential nihilism.
Becker
and Existential Nihilism
Some of Becker’s philosophical ideas fit into the category of existential nihilism.
We don’t know on this planet, what the universe wants from us or is prepared to give
us. We don’t have an answer to the question that troubled Kant of what our duty is, what we should be doing on earth.
(1973, p. 156)
The following quotation shows us part
of Becker’s thinking that is rooted in the camp of existential nihilism:
Even with the highest
personal development and liberation, the person comes up against the real despair of life….The person is stuck with
the full problem of himself….For such a person, as Camus said, ‘the weight of days is dreadful’.
(1973. p. 269)
According to the following definition by Pratt, Becker’s pessimism is on the borderline
of existential nihilism:
Existential nihilism begins with the notion that the world is without meaning
or purpose. Given this circumstance, existence itself--all action, suffering, and feeling--is ultimately senseless and empty.
(Pratt, 2006)
Another quotation from Denial of Death, points to Becker’s nihilistic tendencies:
For ages,
when philosophers talked about the core of man they referred to it as his ‘essence,’ something fixed in his nature….But
nothing like it was ever found….The reason it was never found…was that there was no essence, that the essence
of man is really his paradoxical nature, half animal and half symbolic. (1973, p. 26)
Even though Becker leans at times toward existential nihilism - and despite his most pessimistic moments -
he is not a strong voice for this philosophy. He prefers Hegel over Nietzsche, and Hegel is not a nihilist. In an interview
with Sam Keen, Becker says,
What we are here for is to use ourselves up, which is in fact what I said in Denial of
Death. We seem to be here to burn ourselves out and use ourselves up and this may, in fact, be what it is all about.
(1973, p. 6)
By ‘using ourselves up’ and ‘burning out’, Becker is agreeing with Hegel, who
was influenced by Greek idealism. Hegel conceived of the nature of reality as absolute reason in a cosmic process of coming-to-be
(Manschreck, 1976, p. 87). Becker also agrees with Hegel’s “conceptualization of human history” as a logical
successor to the cosmology of the Church (Kramer, 2007, p. 450).
Instead of history serving man’s redemption, i.e.,
the earth as a proving ground for man, man serves and is consumed by God’s purpose – the earth as the ground for
the realization of the Divine. (Kramer, 2007, p. 450)
In The Journals
of Ernest Becker, 1964-1969, Becker is distancing himself from nihilism and Tolstoy’s Taoist-like idea of ‘the
god-within’. Becker quotes Tolstoy, “I thought that men should be satisfied with the realization and with the
acceptance of the God within us, of the God who places his divine spark in us” (Kramer, 2007, p. 442).
Becker reacts to Tolstoy’s quotation by writing, “Strangely enough I felt bored, depressed and frightened. I had
no idea why, but I felt that I had suddenly fallen spiritually” (p. 442).
Writing in his journal
three months later, Becker confirms he is not a nihilist. He is hoping for the day when a Platonic philosopher will write
a simple book clarifying the meaning of man’s existence (Kramer, 2007, p. 449). Becker seems influenced by Plato as
he recognizes the existence of his soul, and his need for forgiveness from a god-object.
I have had
more than my share of problems with this fitting-together of valid truths in the past dozen years…..this book is a
bid for the peace of my scholarly soul, an offering of absolution. (1973, p. xix)
Becker’s Personal God-object
It is important to
discuss Becker’s ideas on the god-object, and his views on faith as a solution to man’s plight on earth. Man is
driven into blind obliviousness with social games, psychological tricks, and preoccupations removed from reality (Becker,
1973, p. 27). Everything man does in his symbolic world is an attempt to deny and overcome his grotesque fate (p. 27). However,
there is a way of overcoming man’s miserable fate, but he will not find it by relying on Freud, continental philosophy,
or his own theology, “In other words, the true heroic validation of one’s life lies beyond sex, beyond the other,
beyond private religion” (p.174).
Becker agrees with Rank who says, “Man is first and foremost, a theological being”
(p. 174-175). According to Kenel, “Becker had been an atheist for many years until the birth of his first child”
(1986, p. 396). He did not join any church or religion, but, “he employed Christianity for purely utilitarian reasons:
it provided the best myth or most lived compelling illusion” (p. 396).
Becker’s ‘god-object illusion’ has many
of the qualities found in Eastern religions, Gnosticism, Greek philosophy, Hegel, Emerson, James etc. When speaking of freedom,
Becker agrees with Christ’s philosophy, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (John
8:32, KJV).
In Denial of Death, Becker chooses a god-object illusion he has faith in, and feels
comfortable with (p. 173). According to Kenel,
For Becker the choice is not a simple either/or election of God or self. As
Becker insisted: ‘One goes through it all to arrive at faith, the faith that one’s very creatureliness
has some meaning to a Creator; that despite one’s true insignificance, weakness, death, one’s existence has meaning
in some ultimate sense’. (1986, p. 393)
Conclusion
This paper discusses
Becker’s life-force, cosmic process and god-object. Comparisons are made between Becker’s ideas, and those of
various religions and philosophies. The question of whether man can find meaning in life by transcending fear of death is
enigmatic, controversial and profound.
Becker cannot be cubby-holed into any one category of thought on these subjects. He is too
complex, thought-provoking and fascinating to be given a specific philosophical, religious or social-scientific label. In
Denial of Death, Becker is Zen-like, agnostic, scientific, existential, theistic and nihilistic - but he cannot be solely
defined by any of these disciplines.
There are many differences between the writings of Becker and Zen: dualism versus non-dualism,
existence versus non-existence, external goals versus internal goals. There are also wide philosophical gaps between Becker
and Zen on: cosmic heroism, immortality, nature of the life-force and god-object.
Becker is not an existential nihilist, nor
has he declared, ‘God is dead!’ He believes the god-object is alive and well, and man can find meaning and purpose
in the world. Existence, as a symbolic illusion, does not need to be senseless and empty.
After reading Denial
of Death, one may think Becker is pessimistic about the human condition. However, there is optimism
to be found in this book, if one is looking for it. Becker offers the following solutions for overcoming fear of death: having
faith in an ‘abstract life-force’ (mysterium tremendum), accepting the power of an unknown cosmic process,
and transcending cultural lies to achieve freedom.
This paper has discussed these ideas in greater detail: the life-force is a dualistic god-object
in nature and a symbolic form of transference; the cosmic process, including science and psychology, must give way to a new
theology and; man’s freedom from the god-object leads him to better myths to live by.
Becker hopes for ‘a future Plato’,
who will write a book one day, clearly explaining all knowledge. Based on Becker’s favorable reference to Plato, it
is possible that man can find meaning by having faith in:
1) Platonic qualities, such as truth, beauty, goodness, love and eternal
life. He will find inner strength to help him transcend cultural lies;
2) A life-force instilled with Platonic heavenly
virtues. He will be encouraged to move toward cosmic heroism and the belief in immortality;
3) A cosmic process
integrated with Plato’s perennial qualities. He will have the opportunity to expand and improve the human condition.
Truth, beauty, goodness,
love, and eternal life are qualities worth believing in, fighting for, and living for. Becker agrees with this idea: “The
whole basis of the urge to goodness is to be something that has value - that endures” (1973, p. 154). As man purses
these ideals, he will become a cosmic hero, live a meaningful life, and have a chance to overcome his fear of death.
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