Episode #163 - The Creation of Meaning - Escape From Evil
The Creation of Meaning - Escape From Evil
Key Takeaways:
Religion and Culture as Mechanisms for Death Denial: On this episode of the podcast, we delve into how religion and culture serve similar functions in society, acting as mechanisms to help individuals cope with the conscious awareness of their mortality.
Transference Objects as a Coping Strategy: The concept of transference objects is discussed, where intense personal feelings, often related to fear of death, are projected onto external objects or figures.
The Role of Human Evil in Religion and Culture: The podcast touches on the topic of human evil within the framework of religious and cultural beliefs, exploring why people commit acts of evil and feel justified or even good about them. This is connected to the denial of death and the need to protect one's symbolic identity, which is made up of cultural illusions and beliefs.
Becker's Concept of Transcendence: Finally, Ernest Becker's idea of transcendence is presented as a potential solution to the grim view of human existence driven by the denial of death.
Recommended Reading:
Escape from Evil by Ernest Becker (1975) - An insightful exploration into the natural history of evil, examining the human condition and our attempts to deny our mortality.
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker (1974) - This Pulitzer Prize-winning work explores the human refusal to acknowledge mortality, suggesting that civilization is a defense against the knowledge of our finiteness.
The Birth and Death of Meaning: An Interdisciplinary Perspective on the Problem of Man by Ernest Becker - This book delves into the human quest for meaning amidst our awareness of life's transience, offering an interdisciplinary analysis of how we cope with the inevitability of death.
See the full transcript here.
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