The Denial of Death

Challenging the Freudian school of thought, this book portrays humans as constantly struggling against inherent ambiguities in themselves and the world, while trying to define themselves to achieve immortality. It sees the denial of death as man's attempt to distinguish himself beyond the grave.

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Winner of the Pulitzer prize in 1974 and the culmination of a life's work,The Denial of Death is Ernest Becker's brilliant and impassioned answer to the "why" of human existence. In bold contrast to the predominant Freudian school of thought, Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie -- man's refusal to acknowledge his own mortality. In doing so, he sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates more than twenty years after its writing.