“We might say that the problem of authentic growth in a person’s life is to get rid of neurotic despair so as to come face to face with real despair, and then make a creative solution of his existence in greater freedom and full knowledge. This is the conclusion of Kierkegaard’s teaching now supported by the full weight of a mature scientific psychology.” - Becker, p. 206
Becker was one hell of a writer and thinker, one of the greatest (of both, actually), and arguably the profoundest and most important philosopher of the 20th century. He covers so much in this 199-page book (plus detailed endnotes) that I dare not try to summarize it in a review. But it’s the third book of his that I read (the other two being The Denial of Death and Escape from Evil), and he’s blown my mind once again, digging so penetratingly deep into the human psyche and unconscious, using psychology, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and sometimes even film, to get a point across. From primate state, to tribal state and creature of symbols that accursedly has self-consciousness and realizes its own mortality, to modern-day hero-seeking man lost in the concrete wilderness of modern civilization, fragmented within himself and disconnected from his true, authentic self while not realizing it and that it is his lifelong neurosis along with the baggage of his childhood upbringing, hopelessly trying to justify his absurdly short time in a seemingly meaningless universe with no inherent purpose offered or any rationally objective cosmic roadmap to follow from cradle to grave, Becker takes you through the journey of human evolution from the prehistory of humanity to the modern-day, forlorn individual destined to die and know it. He states that “we can flatly and empirically say that everyone is neurotic, some more than others” (p. 151). Becker lays out all the ways society, culture, politics, business, materialism, religion and even dialogue between people try to give us the illusion of strength, hope, security and significance in order to appease our unconscious by assuring it that we’re more than just finite beings destined for permanent cessation. “Generally,” he says on page 33, “the more anxious and insecure we are, the more we invest in these symbolic extensions of ourselves.” This is why after I read The Denial of Death a little over 12 years ago, I never bothered to do a book review of it at all, despite how much I loved it, as he covered way too much in it, and my intimidation was justified.
