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Ernest Becker
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Ernest Becker |
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Huan Yi Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688Waukegan 
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“When we understand that man is the only animal who must create meaning, who must open a wedge into neutral nature, we already understand the essence of love. Love is the problem of an animal who must find life, create a dialogue with nature in order to experience his own being.” Ernest Becker “The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity - designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny of man.” Ernest Becker --The Denial of Death “How does one transcend himself; how does he open himself to new possibility? By realizing the truth of his situation, by dispelling the lie of his character, by breaking his spirit out of its conditioned prison. The enemy, for Kierkegaard as for Freud, is the Oedipus complex. The child has built up strategies and techniques for keeping his self-esteem in the face of the terror of his situation. These techniques become an armor that holds the person prisoner. The very defenses that he needs in order to move about with self-confidence and self-esteem become his lifelong trap. In order to transcend himself he must break down that which he needs in order to live. Like Lear he must throw off all his "cultural lendings" and stand naked in the storm of life. Kierkegaard had no illusions about man's urge to freedom. He knew how comfortable people were inside the prison of their character defenses. Like many prisoners they are comfortable in their limited and protected routines, and the idea of a parole into the wide world of chance, accident, and choice terrifies them.” Ernest Becker --The Denial of Death Becker was of the opinion, (not unique to him), that many beliefs, rationales, etc. were consciously or unconsciously chosen defensive forms of insanity to avoid the greater insanity that would result if an individual faced the realities of his brief existence. From the reader reviews you can pick up more on Becker’s ideas: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684832402/qid=1101669482/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-1122704-7170440?v=glance&s=books |
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