Episode 12 — Ernest Becker: The Denial of Death Anxiety, Meaning, and the Fear Beneath Modern Life

Why do people cling so fiercely to identity, success, ideology, and recognition? Why does modern life feel anxious even when it appears comfortable? And what if much of human behavior is driven by a fear we rarely name?

In this long-form episode of Philosophy for Better Humans, Charles Sebastian Whitby explores the philosophy of Ernest Becker and his groundbreaking work The Denial of Death.

Becker argued that human beings are uniquely burdened by the knowledge of mortality — and that much of culture, ambition, conflict, and ego exists to protect us from facing it directly. To manage this fear, we create “immortality projects”: symbolic ways to feel heroic, significant, and enduring.

This episode explores:

• Death anxiety as the hidden driver of human behavior
• Self-esteem and identity as defenses against mortality
• Love, work, and success as modern hero systems
• Why outrage and ideology escalate so quickly
• How denial of death fuels cruelty and conflict
• What real courage looks like without illusions
• How accepting finitude can make people calmer, kinder, and more humane

This episode is not about despair — it is about honesty, humility, and learning how to live fully without pretending we are immortal.