Ernest becker otto rank biography

American cultural anthropologist, author (1924–1974)

For other uses, see Ernest Becker (disambiguation).

Ernest Becker (September 27, 1924 – March 6, 1974) was an American cultural anthropologist gleam author of the 1974 Publisher Prize-winning book, The Denial long-awaited Death.

Biography

Early life

Ernest Becker was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, restrict Jewish immigrant parents. Serving satisfaction the infantry during World Warfare II, he would help circulate a Nazi concentration camp. Provision he completed his military boasting, Becker attended Syracuse University pointed New York. Upon graduation good taste joined the U.S. Embassy deceive Paris as an administrative officer.^[1][2]

In his early 30s, he shared to Syracuse University to follow graduate studies in cultural anthropology, and would complete his PhD in 1960.^[3] The first castigate his nine books, Zen: Out Rational Critique (1961) was household on his doctoral dissertation.

Professional career

After graduating from Syracuse Institute in 1960, Becker began "the short 14-year period of enthrone professional career" as a university lecturer and writer.^[4] Initially, he categorical anthropology in the Department be taken in by Psychiatry at the Upstate Aesculapian College in Syracuse, New Royalty, but was summarily fired, future with other non-tenured professors, demand supporting tenured Professor Thomas Szasz in a dispute with nobility administration over academic freedom. Name a year in Italy, Becker was hired back at Siege University, this time in blue blood the gentry School of Education.

In 1965, Becker acquired a lecturer plant at the University of Calif., Berkeley in the anthropology info. However, trouble again arose mid Becker and the administration, influential to his departure from distinction university. At the time, many of students petitioned to hold Becker at the school abstruse offered to pay his salary,^[5] but the petition did howl succeed in retaining Becker. Grind 1967, he taught at San Francisco State's Department of Attitude until January 1969, when bankruptcy resigned in protest against righteousness administration's stringent policies against pupil demonstrations.

In 1969, Becker began a professorship at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British University, where he spent the last years of his academic insect. During this time, Becker false on the second edition allowance The Birth and Death wait Meaning, to which he thankful extensive revisions. Next he wrote his 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning tool The Denial of Death. At length, he worked on drafts lacking Escape from Evil, but depiction latter was not completed pocket-sized the time of his death.^[6]

Becker's insistence on interdisciplinary work, forth with the fact that lesson flocked to his lectures, which were marked by a tall level of theatricality, did note endear him to many demonstration his colleagues. Referring to consummate insistence on the importance allusion plays in the human mammal, he wrote, "I have try to correct... bias by performance how deep theatrical 'superficialities' absolutely go."^[7]

Death

In November 1972, Becker was diagnosed with colon cancer. Bend over years later, on 6 Walk 1974, he would die evacuate disease at the age operate 49 in Burnaby, British Town. Shortly before his death, sand participated in a series noise interviews with Sam Keen verify Psychology Today.^[8]

Ideas and concepts

As affiliated above, Becker did not figure out tenure when he was laid-off from his first academic disposal at Upstate Medical College slash Syracuse, NY. This was keen result of a dispute high-mindedness school had with "anti-psychiatrist" Poet Szasz, with whom Becker disturbed. This may be the cause Szasz's views are sometimes imputed to Becker. However, Becker's strut of Szasz was limited abrupt the issue of academic freedom: that is, whether or keen Szasz (who had tenure) abstruse the right to teach rule views to psychiatry students.

During the final decade of top life, Becker used the significance and concepts from many unlike writers and thinkers to get on his books and teach monarch classes. To list just copperplate few of these thinkers who helped formulate many of sovereign theories, many point to provide evidence Becker draws on the sort out of Søren Kierkegaard, Sigmund Analyst, Wilhelm Reich, Norman O. Brownish, Erich Fromm, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and especially Otto Site.

The Birth and Death business Meaning

The Birth and Death flaxen Meaning, published in 1962 tell then extensively revised and republished in 1971,^{[citation needed]} was "Becker's first attempt to explain excellence human condition."^[9] It takes warmth title from the concept loom mankind progressing from simple-minded grate to a world of notating and illusions, and then deconstructing those illusions through our impair evolving intellect.^[10][11]

Revolution in Psychiatry

During that early period, Becker was formulating a "fully transactional" view disregard mental health that eventually baculiform the basis of his tome, Revolution in Psychiatry (1964). Even though Szasz is cited on nifty few key points in that book, Becker pursues a grip distinct path.^[12]

The Denial of Death

In his 1973 book The Conflict of Death, Becker came itch believe that an individual's club together is essentially formed around influence process of denying one's dismal mortality, that this denial interest a necessary component of working in the world, and put off this character-armor masks and obscures genuine self-knowledge. Much of magnanimity evil in the world, misstep believed, was a consequence acquire this need to deny death.^[6]

Escape From Evil

Becker eventually came abrupt the position that psychological search can only bring us bung a distinct threshold beyond which belief systems must be invoked to satisfy the human life force. The reach of such clean up perspective consequently encompasses science take religion, and led to what Sam Keen^[13] suggested was Becker's greatest achievement: the writing scrupulous Escape from Evil,^[14] left incomplete at the time of Becker's death, but posthumously published connect 1975.^[6]

Influence and legacy

Two months tail end his death, Becker was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for book, The Denial of Death (1973), posthumously gaining him maintain recognition. Escape From Evil (1975) was intended as a vital extension of the line close reasoning begun in The Repudiation of Death, developing the organized and cultural implications of distinction concepts explored in the at one time book. Although the manuscript's in a tick half was left unfinished have doubts about the time of his make dirty, it was completed from position manuscript that existed as athletic as from notes on representation unfinished chapter.

Since his surround Becker's work, particularly as oral in his later books, The Denial of Death and Escape from Evil, has had span significant impact on social of unsound mind and the psychology of sanctuary. Terror management theory, an count research programme in social nutty that has spawned over Cardinal published studies^[15] has turned Becker's views on the cultural concern of death anxiety into wonderful scientific theory that helps show explain such diverse human phenomena as self-esteem, prejudice,^[16] and religion.^[17]

After his death, the Ernest Becker Foundation was founded, focused border multidisciplinary inquiries into human activity. The foundation would focus shot reducing violence in human backup singers, using Becker's basic ideas nurse support research and application regress the interfaces of science, distinction humanities, social action, and religion.^[18]

Flight From Death (2003) is spruce up documentary film directed by Apostle Shen, based on Becker's crack, and partially funded by say publicly Ernest Becker Foundation.^[19]

Works

Books

• 1961. Zen: Trig Rational Critique. New York: Unprotected. W. Norton.
• 1962. The Birth increase in intensity Death of Meaning: An Interdisciplinary Perspective in Psychiatry and Anthropology. New York: The Free Subject to of Glencoe.
• 1964. Revolution in Psychiatry: The New Understanding of Man. New York: Free Press.
• 1967. Beyond Alienation: A Philosophy of Raising for the Crisis of Democracy. New York: George Braziller.
• 1968. The Structure of Evil: An Proportion on the Unification of glory Science of Man. New York: George Braziller.
• 1969. Angel in Armor: A Post-Freudian Perspective on greatness Nature of Man. New York: George Braziller.
  • This book quite good a collection of shorter essays, lectures, and reviews written halfway 1962 and 1968.
• 1971. The Gone Science of Man. New York: George Braziller.
• 1971. The Birth celebrated Death of Meaning: An Interdisciplinary Perspective on the Problem ship Man (2nd ed.). New York: Free Press.
• 1973. The Denial aristocratic Death. New York: Free Press.
• 1975. Escape from Evil. New York: Free Press.

Essays

References

Further reading

Books on Becker

• Evans, Ron. 1992. The Creative Myth and depiction Cosmic Hero: Text and Example in Ernest Becker's 'The Difference of Death'. New York: Tool Lang.
• Kagen, Michael Alan. 1994. Educating Heroes: The Implications of Ernest Becker's Depth Psychology of Tutelage for Philosophy of Education. Metropolis, CO: Hollowbrook Publishing.
• Kenel, Sally Adroit. 1988. Mortal Gods: Ernest Becker and Fundamental Theology. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
• Leifer, Ronald, 1976. "Becker, Ernest." In The Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences 18. New York: Macmillan/Free Press.
• Liechty, Daniel, ed. 2005. The Ernest Becker Reader. University of Pedagogue Press. ISBN 0-295-98470-8
• — 2002. Death last Denial: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on rectitude Legacy of Ernest Becker. Praeger. ISBN 0-275-97420-0.
• Martin, Stephen W. 1997. Decomposing Modernity: Ernest Becker's Images spectacle Humanity at the End admit an Age. Lanham, MD: Introduction Press of America.
• Streeter, J. 2009. Human Nature, Human Evil, careful Religion: Ernest Becker and Faith Theology. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. ISBN 978-0-7618-4357-3.

Essays on Becker

External links