The Denial of Death

The Denial of Death Book, PDF free download from here or read this book online. Ernest Becker’s “The Denial of Death” is a seminal work from 1973 that explores the psychological and philosophical aspects of how individuals and societies respond to the notion of death. Becker posits that the majority of human actions are driven by the need to evade or disregard the certainty of death.

This book, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1974, laid the foundation for the development of terror management theory. Becker proposed that the denial of one’s own mortality is a fundamental part of an individual’s character formation and is essential for functioning in the world. He further suggested that much of the world’s evil stems from this need to deny death.