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Escape from Evil
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Denial of Death, a penetrating and insightful perspective on the source of evil in our world.
"A profound, nourishing book…absolutely essential to the understanding of our troubled times." —Anais Nin
"An urgent essay that bears all the marks of a final philosophical raging against the dying of the light." —Newsweek
"A profound, nourishing book…absolutely essential to the understanding of our troubled times." —Anais Nin
"An urgent essay that bears all the marks of a final philosophical raging against the dying of the light." —Newsweek
208 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1975
62 people are currently reading
4643 people want to read
About the author
Ernest Becker
18 books915 followersErnest Becker was an American cultural anthropologist and author of the 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Denial of Death.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
September 12, 2011
I just finished reading this and my head feels like it's ready to explode. There's just so much here. Only 170 pages but so much to digest.
Something that really surprised me: Becker's advocacy of religion. He rejects organized religion, noting all the evil it's done, especially all it's done to advocate war, but he more or less states towards the end of the book that only belief in the supernatural (which, of course, can mean many different things) can save humanity. Like psychoanalysis, he writes, (good) religion has the goal of revealing our true nature to ourselves. "Both religion and psychoanalysis have discovered the same source of illusion: the fear of death which cripples life. Also religion has the same difficult mission as Freud: to overcome the fear of self-knowledge" (163).
But unlike psychoanalysis, unlike anything else, Becker continues, religion is able to give us hope against death. Also unlike anything else, religion is able to truly make us feel that our guilt has been expiated. “Moral dependence--guilt—-is a natural motive of the human condition and has to be absolve from something beyond oneself.” Humans, Becker writes, will always have “a need for a ‘beyond’ on which to base the meaning of their lives” (162).
Why do people not talk more about Becker's very positive view of religion? In "Flight from Death," for example, we're lead to believe that all grown-ups (Becker included) recognize that there is no god and that the only reasonable thing to do is face the coming oblivion w/ courage. This might be true; there might be no god, but it needs to be emphasized that Becker personally advocated belief.
Something that really surprised me: Becker's advocacy of religion. He rejects organized religion, noting all the evil it's done, especially all it's done to advocate war, but he more or less states towards the end of the book that only belief in the supernatural (which, of course, can mean many different things) can save humanity. Like psychoanalysis, he writes, (good) religion has the goal of revealing our true nature to ourselves. "Both religion and psychoanalysis have discovered the same source of illusion: the fear of death which cripples life. Also religion has the same difficult mission as Freud: to overcome the fear of self-knowledge" (163).
But unlike psychoanalysis, unlike anything else, Becker continues, religion is able to give us hope against death. Also unlike anything else, religion is able to truly make us feel that our guilt has been expiated. “Moral dependence--guilt—-is a natural motive of the human condition and has to be absolve from something beyond oneself.” Humans, Becker writes, will always have “a need for a ‘beyond’ on which to base the meaning of their lives” (162).
Why do people not talk more about Becker's very positive view of religion? In "Flight from Death," for example, we're lead to believe that all grown-ups (Becker included) recognize that there is no god and that the only reasonable thing to do is face the coming oblivion w/ courage. This might be true; there might be no god, but it needs to be emphasized that Becker personally advocated belief.
April 7, 2008
We are not evil because we have an "instinct" to be, as Freud said, but because we're the only animal on this planet that knows it's going to die. And so we engage in "immortality projects", including clobbering people who don't subscribe to our view of the world, all in the name of "purity" and goodness. This is a great companion piece to Becker's Pulitzer Prize winning "Denial of Death". A closer look at the specific question of why humans do such awful things.
September 8, 2020
https://rogueliterarysociety.com/f/es...
Nearing his own end Ernest Becker expressed that he had no intention of this book ever being published. After being diagnosed with a terminal disease he decided he had nothing more to say on the subject. But his survivors decided not to honor his wishes. This happens too often to many good writers. And it is evil. It is the only issue I have with this book. His master work The Denial of Death did much to cement his reputation as one of the premier thinkers in modern psychology. Escape from Evil is still worth reading and is recommended as a way to perhaps consider another idea contrary to what you get from any religion, dictator, or state-sponsored entity. The book did give me cause to consider again my own state of affairs and to reason why it is I am the way I am these days instead of who I was in years past.
I often wonder why I am no longer given to the very hardest feelings of lust, envy, greed, and anger. It is not that I no longer have these feelings, I do, but not to the degree I used to and certainly not in the fitful state that might compel me to act on them. We humans are a living history of natural destruction and there is nothing in the cards to bet against our grave and tragic continuance of it. Everything visible in the world today indicates to me that nothing much has changed. The most specific reason that I myself no longer harbor any of these feelings enough to do damage to my neighbor, or even a loved one, has in fact nothing to do with a religious conversion or newfound knowledge and understanding regarding the error of my ways. I credit my relief to my own surrendering to, and self-examination of, all my impulses including the delicious ones as well as the maniacal disturbances threatening to manifest themselves in not so glorified ways. Because I no longer suppress these impulses I am able to examine them in light of an understanding wife, a fellow collaborator in my thinking, relevant literature and study, as well as my own fruitful imagination and exuberant gifts for fantasy. We have given ourselves permission to divulge our feelings and to realize them all by thinking entirely through them instead of acting them out as others among us have done so dangerously. Not only has the exercise made my wife and I more intimate but it also has brought relief to much of what has obsessed at least myself for many years.
Being an artist helps. By writing honestly about whatever it is that makes the most demands on me I am better able to enjoy some sort of equilibrium in the very unstable world we live in. The fact that we all want more, and what is beyond us, keeps the pressure on to continue to eliminate one-by-one the impulses that occur religiously among all of us. And those of us who safely deny these impulses are either satisfied by the promises of one's religious beliefs or numbed by some addictive behavior that can only harm us in the end. Instead, by accepting these wide-ranging impulses I, in essence, have chosen the disease instead of the cure. But the ripe fullness of each impulse in itself pleases me, and I learn just how and what it is that makes me tick.
The more I indulge myself in these exciting fantasies the more equipped I am to recognize which ones are good for me and which ones are bad. In the long run suppressing them only creates a certain pain I cannot escape from and subsequently less life due to a sort of dying. Better to live and make my share of mistakes than to remain immobile as if frozen to death on a stake. There are no fires of hell then certain to come and save me. In all matters of aggression my sword is actually my word. And though the book offers little hope to the human condition there remains an underlying urgency for continuing the pleasure for discovering new seas in which a frightened toe might take that plunge and courageously decide to really swim.
Nearing his own end Ernest Becker expressed that he had no intention of this book ever being published. After being diagnosed with a terminal disease he decided he had nothing more to say on the subject. But his survivors decided not to honor his wishes. This happens too often to many good writers. And it is evil. It is the only issue I have with this book. His master work The Denial of Death did much to cement his reputation as one of the premier thinkers in modern psychology. Escape from Evil is still worth reading and is recommended as a way to perhaps consider another idea contrary to what you get from any religion, dictator, or state-sponsored entity. The book did give me cause to consider again my own state of affairs and to reason why it is I am the way I am these days instead of who I was in years past.
I often wonder why I am no longer given to the very hardest feelings of lust, envy, greed, and anger. It is not that I no longer have these feelings, I do, but not to the degree I used to and certainly not in the fitful state that might compel me to act on them. We humans are a living history of natural destruction and there is nothing in the cards to bet against our grave and tragic continuance of it. Everything visible in the world today indicates to me that nothing much has changed. The most specific reason that I myself no longer harbor any of these feelings enough to do damage to my neighbor, or even a loved one, has in fact nothing to do with a religious conversion or newfound knowledge and understanding regarding the error of my ways. I credit my relief to my own surrendering to, and self-examination of, all my impulses including the delicious ones as well as the maniacal disturbances threatening to manifest themselves in not so glorified ways. Because I no longer suppress these impulses I am able to examine them in light of an understanding wife, a fellow collaborator in my thinking, relevant literature and study, as well as my own fruitful imagination and exuberant gifts for fantasy. We have given ourselves permission to divulge our feelings and to realize them all by thinking entirely through them instead of acting them out as others among us have done so dangerously. Not only has the exercise made my wife and I more intimate but it also has brought relief to much of what has obsessed at least myself for many years.
Being an artist helps. By writing honestly about whatever it is that makes the most demands on me I am better able to enjoy some sort of equilibrium in the very unstable world we live in. The fact that we all want more, and what is beyond us, keeps the pressure on to continue to eliminate one-by-one the impulses that occur religiously among all of us. And those of us who safely deny these impulses are either satisfied by the promises of one's religious beliefs or numbed by some addictive behavior that can only harm us in the end. Instead, by accepting these wide-ranging impulses I, in essence, have chosen the disease instead of the cure. But the ripe fullness of each impulse in itself pleases me, and I learn just how and what it is that makes me tick.
The more I indulge myself in these exciting fantasies the more equipped I am to recognize which ones are good for me and which ones are bad. In the long run suppressing them only creates a certain pain I cannot escape from and subsequently less life due to a sort of dying. Better to live and make my share of mistakes than to remain immobile as if frozen to death on a stake. There are no fires of hell then certain to come and save me. In all matters of aggression my sword is actually my word. And though the book offers little hope to the human condition there remains an underlying urgency for continuing the pleasure for discovering new seas in which a frightened toe might take that plunge and courageously decide to really swim.
December 13, 2024
المفارقة الفريدة في الحالة الإنسانية
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يريد الإنسان أن يستمر كما يريد ذلك أي كائن حي؛ فهو مدفوع بنفس الرغبة في الاستهلاك، وتحويل الطاقة، والاستمتاع بالتجربة المستمرة. ولكن الإنسان ملعون بعبء لا يمكن لأي حيوان أن يتحمله: فهو يدرك أن نهايته حتمية، وأن جسده سوف يفنى.
ولأن الإنسان لم يكن يريد شيئًا أقل من الرخاء الأبدي، لم يستطع منذ البداية أن يتعايش مع احتمال الموت. وكما زعمت في كتابي "إنكار الموت"، فقد أقام الإنسان رموزًا ثقافية لا تشيخ ولا تتحلل لتهدئة خوفه من نهايته وتوفير الوعد بمدة غير محددة.
تمنحه الثقافة كائنًا بديلًا أكثر ديمومة وقوة من الكائن الحي الذي وهبته له الطبيعة. فالجنة الإسلامية، على سبيل المثال، ربما تكون الرؤية الأكثر وضوحا لما يأمله الكائن البشري حقاً.
إن ما أقوله هو أن الإنسان يتجاوز الموت من خلال الثقافة ليس فقط من خلال رؤى بسيطة (أو ساذجة) مثل التهام لحم الضأن في جنة مليئة بالراقصات، بل بطرق أكثر تعقيداً ورمزية. فالإنسان يتجاوز الموت ليس فقط من خلال الاستمرار في إشباع شهواته، بل من خلال إيجاد معنى لحياته، نوع من المخطط الأكبر :
قد يعتقد أنه حقق غرضا ما، أو قام بواجبه تجاه أسلافه أو عائلته، أو حقق شيئاً أثرى البشرية. بهذه الطريقة يضمن الإنسان المعنى الواسع لحياته في مواجهة القيود الحقيقية لجسده؛ إن "الذات الفانية الخالدة" قد تتخذ أشكالاً روحية للغاية، والروحانية ليست مجرد انعكاس للجوع والخوف. إنها تعبير عن إرادة الحياة، والرغبة الملحة لدى الكائن في أن يكون ذو قيمة، وأن يحدث فرقاً على هذا الكوكب لأنه عاش، ونشأ عليه، وعمل، وعانى، ومات.
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Ernest Becker
Escape from Evil
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
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يريد الإنسان أن يستمر كما يريد ذلك أي كائن حي؛ فهو مدفوع بنفس الرغبة في الاستهلاك، وتحويل الطاقة، والاستمتاع بالتجربة المستمرة. ولكن الإنسان ملعون بعبء لا يمكن لأي حيوان أن يتحمله: فهو يدرك أن نهايته حتمية، وأن جسده سوف يفنى.
ولأن الإنسان لم يكن يريد شيئًا أقل من الرخاء الأبدي، لم يستطع منذ البداية أن يتعايش مع احتمال الموت. وكما زعمت في كتابي "إنكار الموت"، فقد أقام الإنسان رموزًا ثقافية لا تشيخ ولا تتحلل لتهدئة خوفه من نهايته وتوفير الوعد بمدة غير محددة.
تمنحه الثقافة كائنًا بديلًا أكثر ديمومة وقوة من الكائن الحي الذي وهبته له الطبيعة. فالجنة الإسلامية، على سبيل المثال، ربما تكون الرؤية الأكثر وضوحا لما يأمله الكائن البشري حقاً.
إن ما أقوله هو أن الإنسان يتجاوز الموت من خلال الثقافة ليس فقط من خلال رؤى بسيطة (أو ساذجة) مثل التهام لحم الضأن في جنة مليئة بالراقصات، بل بطرق أكثر تعقيداً ورمزية. فالإنسان يتجاوز الموت ليس فقط من خلال الاستمرار في إشباع شهواته، بل من خلال إيجاد معنى لحياته، نوع من المخطط الأكبر :
قد يعتقد أنه حقق غرضا ما، أو قام بواجبه تجاه أسلافه أو عائلته، أو حقق شيئاً أثرى البشرية. بهذه الطريقة يضمن الإنسان المعنى الواسع لحياته في مواجهة القيود الحقيقية لجسده؛ إن "الذات الفانية الخالدة" قد تتخذ أشكالاً روحية للغاية، والروحانية ليست مجرد انعكاس للجوع والخوف. إنها تعبير عن إرادة الحياة، والرغبة الملحة لدى الكائن في أن يكون ذو قيمة، وأن يحدث فرقاً على هذا الكوكب لأنه عاش، ونشأ عليه، وعمل، وعانى، ومات.
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Ernest Becker
Escape from Evil
Translated By #Maher_Razouk
January 9, 2012
This book spawns a theory of social psychology. It is both a devastating critique of ideology yet beautiful argument for it. All culture is fundamentally contrived... Becker never finished this books himself, it was released posthumously by his wife after she found the manuscript hidden away in his desk- so Escape from Evil lacks a bit of the nuance of The Denial of Death- yet Becker writes more candidly in what might be considered his magnum opus. Escape From Evil is a cry for a unifying theory of society and lays its groundwork. Sure to please no one firmly embedded in an ideological camp; the science of society must go more slowly and modestly than advocated by Rousseau and Marx...
..."if we can no longer live the great symbolisms of the sacred in accordance with the original belief in them, we can, we modern men, aim at a second naivete in and through criticism." -Ricoeur
Paradigm shift.
..."if we can no longer live the great symbolisms of the sacred in accordance with the original belief in them, we can, we modern men, aim at a second naivete in and through criticism." -Ricoeur
Paradigm shift.
September 30, 2017
This book is a continuation of The Denial of Death. While that book greatly impressed me, this one made me pause. Too much reflection and armchair philosophizing based on dubious psychoanalytical principles can end up giving you an odd perspective of evil. It seems that to Becker everything is about trying to transcend death and give meaning to life and make the world as perfect as the one in our imagination; it's all heroism and symbolism. I'm sure this is not what Becker wanted to say, but you get the impression that evil is almost noble because man resorts to it in his effort to overcome his mortality and insignificance.
Well, as Hannah Arendt said, evil can often be quite banal. Evolutionary psychology seems very unsophisticated compared to the highbrow ideas in this book, but it's the sort of common sense analysis that escaped Becker in his high-mindedness. It's not all heroism and symbolism and transcending death. It can be as banal as amassing resources and power to have a more comfortable life and gain access to more food and mates.
Well, as Hannah Arendt said, evil can often be quite banal. Evolutionary psychology seems very unsophisticated compared to the highbrow ideas in this book, but it's the sort of common sense analysis that escaped Becker in his high-mindedness. It's not all heroism and symbolism and transcending death. It can be as banal as amassing resources and power to have a more comfortable life and gain access to more food and mates.
August 6, 2017
This is right in my sweet spot--a dark, philosophical examination (exhortation) of human nature. Reminiscent of Nietzsche and E.M. Cioran in particular, Becker's text takes humanity to task. Make sure to have a fuzzy animal handy whilst reading, for this is a nightmare tale of the highest proportions. Great read during the holidays, for those sick of fakey-fake cheer and hope. Tons of great one-liners. Why am I just now discovering Becker? I want to retroactively sue my undergraduate profs for shortchanging my mind.
July 13, 2022
Ernest Becker's idea of an immortality project has literally changed the life of every person I know who has been fortunate enough to read his great book "the denial of death." While "escape from evil" was a very insightful read, too, I think it was always doomed for failure because it's nearly impossible to have as much insight as "denial of death."
Indeed, to be honest, I have meditated on a lot of questions Becker asks in the "escape from evil" because I read "the denial of death" and was very struck by the ideas in it.
Most namely, Becker links the secular and the religious arguing that throughout history every group of people has had some sort of immortality project. For people in the modern day, this most often presents itself in a toxic, externally driven immortality project of attaining as much money as possible. But for many people in the past, this immortality project (i.e. way of living that allows one to cope with their death by performing nonsensical, inconsistent activities that may metaphorically represent their immortality) was sought through religion, and rituals (i.e. the immortality projects of being a good Christian, the immortality project based in sacrifice, etc).
Becker's articulation of the immortality project concept puts into question a lot of things for me and can be seen everywhere - from the person who needs to be the next Jeff bezos, to the person who needs to make.impact, etc.
This text extends upon Becker's immortality project concept in the realm of asking the following simple question: what causes evil? Becker compares Marxist ideology (namely that structures cause evil) with ideology of conservatives like edmand Burke (who argues that ppl are inherently evil and thus we should nonsensically not fix structures). In the end Becker adds the interesting idea that the immortality project can partially explain the cause of evil.
Namely, ppl often scapegoat an "evil" and then make it their immortality project to quell that evil - and quite literally become willing to kill to crush that scapegoated evil. Yet the sad thing here is this kind of psychodynamic explanation can perhaps in part explain the rise of ideologies like Naziism. Indeed in modern times the fetishization of evil can be an immortality project (i.e. cancel culture)
Throughout Becker's intellectual journey in this book I was enthralled mostly because Becker was taking us along for the ride - pointing out places where he was uncertain, etc. I wish this book were more structured but still I highly recommend just because of how pervasive I think the concepts of immortality projects are in our society and how helpful an understanding of this idea has been for me in recent weeks.
Indeed, to be honest, I have meditated on a lot of questions Becker asks in the "escape from evil" because I read "the denial of death" and was very struck by the ideas in it.
Most namely, Becker links the secular and the religious arguing that throughout history every group of people has had some sort of immortality project. For people in the modern day, this most often presents itself in a toxic, externally driven immortality project of attaining as much money as possible. But for many people in the past, this immortality project (i.e. way of living that allows one to cope with their death by performing nonsensical, inconsistent activities that may metaphorically represent their immortality) was sought through religion, and rituals (i.e. the immortality projects of being a good Christian, the immortality project based in sacrifice, etc).
Becker's articulation of the immortality project concept puts into question a lot of things for me and can be seen everywhere - from the person who needs to be the next Jeff bezos, to the person who needs to make.impact, etc.
This text extends upon Becker's immortality project concept in the realm of asking the following simple question: what causes evil? Becker compares Marxist ideology (namely that structures cause evil) with ideology of conservatives like edmand Burke (who argues that ppl are inherently evil and thus we should nonsensically not fix structures). In the end Becker adds the interesting idea that the immortality project can partially explain the cause of evil.
Namely, ppl often scapegoat an "evil" and then make it their immortality project to quell that evil - and quite literally become willing to kill to crush that scapegoated evil. Yet the sad thing here is this kind of psychodynamic explanation can perhaps in part explain the rise of ideologies like Naziism. Indeed in modern times the fetishization of evil can be an immortality project (i.e. cancel culture)
Throughout Becker's intellectual journey in this book I was enthralled mostly because Becker was taking us along for the ride - pointing out places where he was uncertain, etc. I wish this book were more structured but still I highly recommend just because of how pervasive I think the concepts of immortality projects are in our society and how helpful an understanding of this idea has been for me in recent weeks.
March 17, 2021
Maybe we do need religion after all: a heroic myth through which we can quench our thirst for expiation and quell our fear of the afterlife. Now, I'm all for a good critique of Modern Man with his Rorschach tests, robots, and "dolla dolla bills y'all," and Becker provides plenty of phenomenology to show that quotidian man is as confused as tribal man. I also agree with with Becker's conclusion that we need a spiritual system or systems of some sort such that we're able to band together for a Truth higher than ourselves.
However, some of Becker's arguments feel too narrow. Much of the book falls into the trap of reductionism that all sciences of man does. Sometimes, evil really is banal and not acted out specifically with the intent to gain immortality. Becker will philosophize about Otto Rank's death phobia as the cause of aggression; meanwhile Freud calls upon the death drive. And we're back to dualistic thinking. I would hope that humans are more complex than transient beings comprised of shame and fear, but maybe that's me preaching my own myths.
But if this book leads more people to leave "paradigm shift" in their reviews, then I'm all here for it.
However, some of Becker's arguments feel too narrow. Much of the book falls into the trap of reductionism that all sciences of man does. Sometimes, evil really is banal and not acted out specifically with the intent to gain immortality. Becker will philosophize about Otto Rank's death phobia as the cause of aggression; meanwhile Freud calls upon the death drive. And we're back to dualistic thinking. I would hope that humans are more complex than transient beings comprised of shame and fear, but maybe that's me preaching my own myths.
But if this book leads more people to leave "paradigm shift" in their reviews, then I'm all here for it.
September 5, 2016
Stunning. Unforgettable. A magnum opus. Even more powerful than The Denial of Death, from which it was extracted. Ernest Becker, like Otto Rank, is one of the intellectual and spiritual giants of the 20th century. What makes Becker truly great is that he recognized Rank's genius and distilled Rank's books, virtually all out of print at the time, into this lyrical masterpiece. Becker's facility with language is what Rank, sadly, lacked. Yet Becker got all of Rank almost as if he were channeling him from the Beyond. To be able to read a genius like Rank requires a genius like Becker.
December 2, 2016
"The tragedy of evolution is that it created a limited animal with unlimited horizons . . . It seems that the experiment of man may well prove to be an evolutionary dead end, an impossible animal - one who, individually, needs for healthy action the very conduct that, on a general level, is destructive to him. It is maddeningly perverse,"
Humanity is caught in the greatest goof of all time.
Reading Becker is a gut-punch - but a necessary one!
Humanity is caught in the greatest goof of all time.
Reading Becker is a gut-punch - but a necessary one!
March 6, 2021
Continuação do denial of death.
Eu não tenho por onde começar a agradecer a lucidez e clareza do autor. Ele me ajudou a passar por atoleiros mentais nos quais me empaquei a vida toda.
Eu não tenho por onde começar a agradecer a lucidez e clareza do autor. Ele me ajudou a passar por atoleiros mentais nos quais me empaquei a vida toda.
October 22, 2012
"the ideology of modern commercialism has unleashed a life of invidious comparison unprecedented in history ... modern man cannot endure economic equality because he has no faith in self-transcendent, otherworldly immortality symbols; visible physical worth is the only thing he has to give him eternal life. No wonder that people segregate themselves with such consuming dedication, that specialness is so much a fight to the death ... He dies when his little symbols of specialness die." (p.85)
"But evil is not banal as Arendt claimed: evil rests on the passionate person motive to perpetuate oneself, and for each individual this is literally a life-and-death matter for which any sacrifice is not too great, provided it is the sacrifice of someone else and provided that the leader and the group approve of it"
"... It is an all-consuming activity to make the world conform to our desires ... Man is an animal who has to live in a lie in order to live at all" (p.122)
"But evil is not banal as Arendt claimed: evil rests on the passionate person motive to perpetuate oneself, and for each individual this is literally a life-and-death matter for which any sacrifice is not too great, provided it is the sacrifice of someone else and provided that the leader and the group approve of it"
"... It is an all-consuming activity to make the world conform to our desires ... Man is an animal who has to live in a lie in order to live at all" (p.122)
August 22, 2014
I love Ernest Becker. I believe he offers a perspective on social justice, and our own mortality that is intimately connected to our times. In Escape from Evil he examines the ways which Evil occurs in the world. He believes that evil occurs because one is attempting to be great, to be powerful, and to transcend their mortality by investing in the larger collective good, a good that requires heroes. It is a penetrating analysis, and I believe is very timely as the US begins to (hopefully) have ongoing discussion of income inequality. Personally, I do not believe that we can make lasting and significant strides towards true social justice without understanding and embracing Becker's ideas.
April 6, 2020
I really liked Denial of Death and especially The Birth and Death of Meaning which was far more coherent in its thesis. But this Escape from Evil was just nonsensical drivel that seemed to have no point. I can see why Ernest himself asked for the notes to be thrown away. Instead of honoring his dying wish his wife for some reason published the notes as a book. I cannot understand why.
October 28, 2007
every paragraph is vital. So well informed, lucid and readable that it seems unbelievable.
Want to read
October 18, 2012Added to the to-read list for this quote from it: "Each society is a hero system which promises victory over evil and death."
October 31, 2022
Becker's The Denial of Death is one of my top ten of all time, so I was very surprised that this one was so difficult and unenjoyable. Most of it was over my head. Some passages did land, however. Here they are:
"Existence, for all organismic life, is a constant struggle to feed--a struggle to incorporate whatever other organisms they can fit in to their mouths and press down their gullets without chocking. Seen in these stark terms, life on this planet is a gory spectacle, a science-fiction nightmare in which digestive tracts fitted with teeth at one end are tearing away ate whatever flesh they can read, and at the other end are piling up the fuming waste excrements as thy move along in search of more flesh."
Poetry, that.
"Most people would agree that the word 'alienation' applies to modern man, that something happened in history which gradually despoiled the average man, transformed him from an active, creative being into the pathetic consumer who smiles proudly from our billboards that his armpits are odor-free around the clock."
More poetry on the beauty of the human situation.
"...[T]oday we can say that transference is a reflex of the fatality of the human condition. Transference to a powerful other takes care of the overwhelming-ness of the universe."
"Kant's famous observation on man was now not merely a philosophical aphorism but a scientific judgement: 'from the crooked wood of which man is made, nothing quite straight can be built.'"
"The tragedy of evolution is that it created a limited animal with unlimited horizons. Man is the only animal that is not armed with the natural instinctive mechanisms or programming for shrinking his world down to a size that he can automatically act on. This means that men have to artificially and arbitrarily restrict their intake of experience and focus their output of decisive action Men have to keep from going mad by biting off small pieces of reality which they can get some command over and some organismic satisfaction from. This means that their noblest passions are played out in the most narrow and unreflective ways, and this is what undoes them."
Dark stuff that has the ring of truth.
"Existence, for all organismic life, is a constant struggle to feed--a struggle to incorporate whatever other organisms they can fit in to their mouths and press down their gullets without chocking. Seen in these stark terms, life on this planet is a gory spectacle, a science-fiction nightmare in which digestive tracts fitted with teeth at one end are tearing away ate whatever flesh they can read, and at the other end are piling up the fuming waste excrements as thy move along in search of more flesh."
Poetry, that.
"Most people would agree that the word 'alienation' applies to modern man, that something happened in history which gradually despoiled the average man, transformed him from an active, creative being into the pathetic consumer who smiles proudly from our billboards that his armpits are odor-free around the clock."
More poetry on the beauty of the human situation.
"...[T]oday we can say that transference is a reflex of the fatality of the human condition. Transference to a powerful other takes care of the overwhelming-ness of the universe."
"Kant's famous observation on man was now not merely a philosophical aphorism but a scientific judgement: 'from the crooked wood of which man is made, nothing quite straight can be built.'"
"The tragedy of evolution is that it created a limited animal with unlimited horizons. Man is the only animal that is not armed with the natural instinctive mechanisms or programming for shrinking his world down to a size that he can automatically act on. This means that men have to artificially and arbitrarily restrict their intake of experience and focus their output of decisive action Men have to keep from going mad by biting off small pieces of reality which they can get some command over and some organismic satisfaction from. This means that their noblest passions are played out in the most narrow and unreflective ways, and this is what undoes them."
Dark stuff that has the ring of truth.
December 9, 2020
My feeling is this book didn't age well. Its copyright date is 1975, a time when I was on the cusp of college, where I would eventually major in Psychology. Of course I never did anything with my Psychology degree, opting instead for a career working with computers, which I hated, so one may argue I didn’t age well either. Point taken….
But nonetheless I was put off by Becker’s focus on Psychoanalysis and Freud as if that scientific approach and that Psychologist represented the missing link in man’s struggle to make sense of history and evil; now that Freud and Psychoanalysis were here we can figure it all out. Period. Full stop. However, in the late seventies and early eighties, when I was taking Psychology courses, experts in the field were already apologizing for Freud and for Psychoanalysis, seeming very anxious to move on.
I also didn’t appreciate Becker’s penchant for over-analyzing human activities. At one point he was analyzing why people go to “rock concerts.” He had quite the explanation, very erudite, but even Freud was wise enough to know that sometimes a cigar is just a smoke.
I know I’m simplifying things when I say Becker’s point is evil stems from man’s fear of death. Becker was brilliant, and I’m a dullard by comparison, so much of what he was proffering went way over my head. But still, I had too many “oh please” moments to get too excited about this book.
Oh look, I'm denigrating myself, as if doing so will make it easier for me to criticize someone else. Paging Dr. Freud....
But nonetheless I was put off by Becker’s focus on Psychoanalysis and Freud as if that scientific approach and that Psychologist represented the missing link in man’s struggle to make sense of history and evil; now that Freud and Psychoanalysis were here we can figure it all out. Period. Full stop. However, in the late seventies and early eighties, when I was taking Psychology courses, experts in the field were already apologizing for Freud and for Psychoanalysis, seeming very anxious to move on.
I also didn’t appreciate Becker’s penchant for over-analyzing human activities. At one point he was analyzing why people go to “rock concerts.” He had quite the explanation, very erudite, but even Freud was wise enough to know that sometimes a cigar is just a smoke.
I know I’m simplifying things when I say Becker’s point is evil stems from man’s fear of death. Becker was brilliant, and I’m a dullard by comparison, so much of what he was proffering went way over my head. But still, I had too many “oh please” moments to get too excited about this book.
Oh look, I'm denigrating myself, as if doing so will make it easier for me to criticize someone else. Paging Dr. Freud....
December 30, 2023
Incredible book that examines the roots of evil within human nature and possible ways to address the different roots of evil. The book uniquely focuses on some fascinating concepts like the heroic dynamics within societies, expiation of guilt, and fear of death as the main underlying impetuses for defective human behavior that results in pain and suffering. The dark part for me is realizing how human beings have been stuck in cycles of violence that we dont seem to overcome with time. I really appreciated his analysis of different theories that were presented by thinkers like Marx, Rousseau, Freud, Rank, among others. He exposes the unrealistic egalitarian solutions for societies suggested by some of these thinkers and ideologies while highlighting how the most egalitarian societies could not get rid of evil, violence, and the path towards the violent state. I couldn't agree more with the solutions Becker presented here. Self awareness and deep introspection to understand motivating factors in one's thinking, behavior, and collective culture. At the end of the day, evil will never be eradicated because it is part of human nature but it can be significantly suppressed without having to resort to unnecessary violence.
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June 17, 2020Analysis of man’s motives from prehistory to present. Analytic anthropology, social theory, and psychology combined.
I left it unrated based on the fact that this wasn’t the book I needed or really wanted to read. So I abandoned it near the end. Maybe I’ll finish it one day.
I left it unrated based on the fact that this wasn’t the book I needed or really wanted to read. So I abandoned it near the end. Maybe I’ll finish it one day.
August 8, 2019
Brilliant synthesis of a wide range of thinkers. Unsettling, too.
November 5, 2022
I started this book much earlier but stalled it to read- Denial of death-also by Ernest Becker as there were quite a few references of the same and since DOD is Becker's introduction to what ails humans from a psychological as well as anthropological perspective, I knew EFE had to wait.
It was worth the wait in the sense I got to read Denial of death- an essential treatise on the human condition.
Escape from Evil then is an easy epilogue to Denial of death because now we know why humans act the way they do in vanquishing the evil they see in the other in order to transcend their limited life of earth.
This book was written even as Becker himself was ailing, dying. It then proves to be a brooding meditation laced with a wistfulness that can come to somebody who knows the cause of a certain disaster but is hapless to prevent it. We see a sense of sadness and helplessness in the concluding pages of the book.
Becker writes in good detail how humans failure to accept their animality and their constant vain effort for a vanity project to expiate their guilt, to transcend their finiteness and to find meaning to purify the world around them as a visible validation to their transcendence leads to the viciousness with which they demolish their own kind.
He does hope that after educating ourselves and understanding the reason behind why we act self destructively , we might scientifically reflect on our vulnerabilities and act in a self correcting manner setting aside our instinctive fear of death and working towards a better world by understanding our place in it rather than sanitizing it.
The book being meditative sometimes seemed to pause, meander and repeat what had been told. Becker righfully steers clear of being prescriptive instead focusing only on throwing light on the dark areas of human mind.
It still feels very reductionist at times, perhaps because the focus is too much on psychological perspective, however we see human's behavior can be complex and can have other drivers including his chemical, biological make-up. Humans being animals do retain that instinctive quality that the animals are bestowed with. The sticking out like a sore thumb owing to our conscious understsnding of our own death, then leads to a whole lot of chaos in the name of expiation of the guilt of existence. Becker has done well to proclaim this to us loud and clear not with the intent to change us but to urge us with an understanding that will change our outlooks forever.
It was worth the wait in the sense I got to read Denial of death- an essential treatise on the human condition.
Escape from Evil then is an easy epilogue to Denial of death because now we know why humans act the way they do in vanquishing the evil they see in the other in order to transcend their limited life of earth.
This book was written even as Becker himself was ailing, dying. It then proves to be a brooding meditation laced with a wistfulness that can come to somebody who knows the cause of a certain disaster but is hapless to prevent it. We see a sense of sadness and helplessness in the concluding pages of the book.
Becker writes in good detail how humans failure to accept their animality and their constant vain effort for a vanity project to expiate their guilt, to transcend their finiteness and to find meaning to purify the world around them as a visible validation to their transcendence leads to the viciousness with which they demolish their own kind.
He does hope that after educating ourselves and understanding the reason behind why we act self destructively , we might scientifically reflect on our vulnerabilities and act in a self correcting manner setting aside our instinctive fear of death and working towards a better world by understanding our place in it rather than sanitizing it.
The book being meditative sometimes seemed to pause, meander and repeat what had been told. Becker righfully steers clear of being prescriptive instead focusing only on throwing light on the dark areas of human mind.
It still feels very reductionist at times, perhaps because the focus is too much on psychological perspective, however we see human's behavior can be complex and can have other drivers including his chemical, biological make-up. Humans being animals do retain that instinctive quality that the animals are bestowed with. The sticking out like a sore thumb owing to our conscious understsnding of our own death, then leads to a whole lot of chaos in the name of expiation of the guilt of existence. Becker has done well to proclaim this to us loud and clear not with the intent to change us but to urge us with an understanding that will change our outlooks forever.
October 7, 2022
What a waste of my time condensed into an awful form. 2 stars is at points very generous.
Becker’s 170 page meandering mess could’ve been condensed into almost a pamphlet length. This reminds me of the book which ‘Stirner and his Egoism’ critiques. Becker is so confident in most of his points he feels no need to argue them. Thankfully he takes the care to explain his somewhat obscure fiction references and simple morality tales he extracts.
The core claim is that evil derives from Man’s organismic terror of consciousness, thus birthing a desire for hero systems of transcendence. He haphazardly quotes Rank, Brown, and Hocart ad nauseum without any effect. There is certainly affect: boredom and circularity.
This is thankfully redeemed by his often casual style, further emphasising the repetitive nature of the text. The dictum that one word should replace three is reversed, littering the text with ‘well then’, ‘the reader can familiarise themselves with the text [being quoted]’ and ‘X quotes on three brilliant pages’.
I can think of very few reasons to ever read this monstrosity. The organismic premise can be gleaned from a sparknotes skim read, and any actual claims can then be found from the index to read the original texts in their own context. This avoids Becker’s incredible creative license he takes - such as claiming Fromm justifies his own view of evil with no textual basis, or that Marxism stopped the Austrian Painter.
*more to come*
Becker’s 170 page meandering mess could’ve been condensed into almost a pamphlet length. This reminds me of the book which ‘Stirner and his Egoism’ critiques. Becker is so confident in most of his points he feels no need to argue them. Thankfully he takes the care to explain his somewhat obscure fiction references and simple morality tales he extracts.
The core claim is that evil derives from Man’s organismic terror of consciousness, thus birthing a desire for hero systems of transcendence. He haphazardly quotes Rank, Brown, and Hocart ad nauseum without any effect. There is certainly affect: boredom and circularity.
This is thankfully redeemed by his often casual style, further emphasising the repetitive nature of the text. The dictum that one word should replace three is reversed, littering the text with ‘well then’, ‘the reader can familiarise themselves with the text [being quoted]’ and ‘X quotes on three brilliant pages’.
I can think of very few reasons to ever read this monstrosity. The organismic premise can be gleaned from a sparknotes skim read, and any actual claims can then be found from the index to read the original texts in their own context. This avoids Becker’s incredible creative license he takes - such as claiming Fromm justifies his own view of evil with no textual basis, or that Marxism stopped the Austrian Painter.
*more to come*
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September 15, 2019I will share a part from the book for readers who consider reading:
"As Dostoevsky saw, killing is sometimes distasteful, but the distaste is swallowed if it is necessary to true heroism: as one of the revolutionaries asked Pytor Verhovensky in the Possessed, when they were about to kill one of their number, 'Are other groups also doing this?' In other words, is it the socially heroic thing to do, or are we being arbitrary about identifying evil? Each person wants his life to be a marker for good as his group defines it. Men work their programs of heroism according to the standard cultural scenarios, from Pontius Pilate though Eichmann and Calley. It is as Hegel long ago said: men cause evil out of good intentions, not out of wicked ones. Men cause evil by wanting heroically to triumph over it, because man is a frightened animal who tries to triumph, an animal who will not admit his own insignificance, that he can not perpetuate himself and his group forever, that no one is invulnerable no matter how much of the blood of others is spilled to try to demonstrate it."
"As Dostoevsky saw, killing is sometimes distasteful, but the distaste is swallowed if it is necessary to true heroism: as one of the revolutionaries asked Pytor Verhovensky in the Possessed, when they were about to kill one of their number, 'Are other groups also doing this?' In other words, is it the socially heroic thing to do, or are we being arbitrary about identifying evil? Each person wants his life to be a marker for good as his group defines it. Men work their programs of heroism according to the standard cultural scenarios, from Pontius Pilate though Eichmann and Calley. It is as Hegel long ago said: men cause evil out of good intentions, not out of wicked ones. Men cause evil by wanting heroically to triumph over it, because man is a frightened animal who tries to triumph, an animal who will not admit his own insignificance, that he can not perpetuate himself and his group forever, that no one is invulnerable no matter how much of the blood of others is spilled to try to demonstrate it."
Read
January 18, 2008Ever wonder why human nature is so destructive? What is behind all those different religions? War? Greed?
Capitolism versus Socialism?
This is the book to read. It is straight anthropology. Take notes while you read and review, and then read it again. I started this book in 1999, and finished in 2005. A complimentary read is The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
jessica in chicago
Capitolism versus Socialism?
This is the book to read. It is straight anthropology. Take notes while you read and review, and then read it again. I started this book in 1999, and finished in 2005. A complimentary read is The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
jessica in chicago
May 4, 2021
Another excellent book by Becker. Maybe as not as brilliant as the Denial of Death but very close and equally insightfull!
What is missing though, is some quideline, even vague of how man can escape evil. There are some hints here and there but not any concrete sketch of drawing possible exits from human evil.
In this respect the book, unfortunately, does not deliver on its title. It remains extremely valuable though as a thorough exposition of human history in relation to evil and its common denominator the "Denial of Death"
Excellent read. Can not reccomend it enough
What is missing though, is some quideline, even vague of how man can escape evil. There are some hints here and there but not any concrete sketch of drawing possible exits from human evil.
In this respect the book, unfortunately, does not deliver on its title. It remains extremely valuable though as a thorough exposition of human history in relation to evil and its common denominator the "Denial of Death"
Excellent read. Can not reccomend it enough
Currently reading
May 30, 2011
June 24, 2021
I asked myself the question. Is spirituality fake?
A friend on Facebook started to comment.
This man's name is Haim Bodek. He told me to read Becker's Escape From Evil - it's indisputable medicine for these existential questions. I saw that Clinton eventually read it and spoke publicly about his ideas... I wish he had done that before he ran the country.
A friend on Facebook started to comment.
This man's name is Haim Bodek. He told me to read Becker's Escape From Evil - it's indisputable medicine for these existential questions. I saw that Clinton eventually read it and spoke publicly about his ideas... I wish he had done that before he ran the country.
June 3, 2020
This is Becker's accompanying piece to his book "The Denial of Death". This is not the type of book the typical reader chooses to "snuggle up with next to the fire". It is a serious scientific book that is attempting to put together a science of man. As Becker attempts to do this, he pulls from the sciences of Anthropology, Psychology, Behaviorism and Sociology. "Escape from Evil" is a book about social theory and human behavior in group settings that lead to evil.
Ultimately, Becker believes that in order for man to escape evil man must get past his denial and repression of the reality of death. Man's attempts to deny his own mortality through what Becker calls "Immortality Projects", are at the root of human evil. These "Immortality Projects" are typically heroic in nature.
I highly recommend that one read "The Denial of Death" before reading "Escape From Evil". Like a college pre-requisite course, "The Denial of Death" will give you the basic foundation to understand "Escape from Evil". However, the author states in his introduction that one can jump right into "Escape From Evil" and still understand it. Having said this, Becker still recommends reading "The Denial of Death" first.
So, if you are the type of person who WOULD "snuggle up to a fire" and read a scientific textbook style writing about social theory, human behavior and the philosophy of human history then this book is FOR YOU. If you are not, well, I need say no more. You probably quit reading this review after my first paragraph.
Ultimately, Becker believes that in order for man to escape evil man must get past his denial and repression of the reality of death. Man's attempts to deny his own mortality through what Becker calls "Immortality Projects", are at the root of human evil. These "Immortality Projects" are typically heroic in nature.
I highly recommend that one read "The Denial of Death" before reading "Escape From Evil". Like a college pre-requisite course, "The Denial of Death" will give you the basic foundation to understand "Escape from Evil". However, the author states in his introduction that one can jump right into "Escape From Evil" and still understand it. Having said this, Becker still recommends reading "The Denial of Death" first.
So, if you are the type of person who WOULD "snuggle up to a fire" and read a scientific textbook style writing about social theory, human behavior and the philosophy of human history then this book is FOR YOU. If you are not, well, I need say no more. You probably quit reading this review after my first paragraph.
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