The chapter explores the acceptance of mortality and facing existential fears by shedding dependencies and embracing authenticity. It discusses contrasting views of personalities from Kierkegaard to Freud, the importance of shedding illusions for self-realization, and the conflicts between scientific materialism and the yearning for transcendence. The conversation also delves into the complex relationship between Freud and Jung, their differing perspectives on human behavior, immortality, and the reluctance to address mystical aspects in psychoanalysis.
David faces his greatest fear as he and Tamler dive into Ernest Becker’s 1973 Pulitzer Prize winner The Denial of Death. Blending existentialist ideas within a psychoanalytic framework, Becker argues that the ultimate source of human motivation is not the repression of sexual drives (as Freud thought) but our terror of death and the yearning for an immortality we can never possess. This episode focuses on Part One of Becker’s book, and we’ll conclude the discussion in the next episode.
Plus are gun owners really dissatisfied with their penis size? We look at the numbers.
Hill, T. D., Zeng, L., Burdette, A. M., Dowd-Arrow, B., Bartkowski, J. P., & Ellison, C. G. (2024). Size matters? Penis dissatisfaction and gun ownership in America. American journal of men's health, 18(3), 15579883241255830.
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker [amazon.com affiliate link]
The Denial of Death [wikipedia.org]
Let us know where we should hold our 300th episode listener meet-up [surveymonkey.com]