Author | Ernest Becker |
---|---|
Language | English |
Subject | Death |
Publisher | Free Press |
Publication date | December 31, 1973 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
Pages | 336 |
ISBN | 9780684832401 |
The Denial of Death is a 1973 book by American cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker which discusses the psychological and philosophical implications of how people and cultures have reacted to the concept of death.[1] The author argues most human action is taken to ignore or avoid the inevitability of death.[2]
It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1974, two months after the author's death.[3] It is the main work responsible for the development of terror management theory, which provides empirical support for Becker's ideas.