"We said it is impossible for man to feel “right” in any straightforward way, and now we can see why. He can expand his self-feeling not only by Agape merger but also by the other ontological motive Eros, the urge for more life, for exciting experience, for the development of the self-powers, for developing the uniqueness of the individual creature, the impulsion to stick out of nature and shine. Life is, after all, a challenge to the creature, a fascinating opportunity to expand. Psychologically it is the urge for individuation: how do I realize my distinctive gifts, make my own contribution to the world through my own self-expansion? Now we see what we might call the ontological or creature tragedy that is so peculiar to man: If he gives in to Agape he risks failing to develop himself, his active contribution to the rest of life. If he expands Eros too much he risks cutting himself off from natural dependency, from duty to a larger creation; he pulls away from the healing power of gratitude and humility that he must naturally feel for having been created, for having been given the opportunity of life experience. Man thus has the absolute tension of the dualism. Individuation means that the human creature has to oppose itself to the rest of nature. It creates precisely the isolation that one can’t stand—and yet needs in order to develop distinctively. It creates the difference that becomes such a burden; it accents the smallness of oneself and the sticking-outness at the same time. This is natural guilt. The person experiences this as “unworthiness” or “badness” and dumb inner dissatisfaction. And the reason is realistic. Compared to the rest of nature man is not a very satisfactory creation. He is riddled with fear and powerlessness."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesNon-fiction authors from the United StatesJews from the United StatesPeople from MassachusettsAnthropologists from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Becker
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Ernest Becker
Ernest Becker (27 September 1924 – 6 March 1974) was an American cultural anthropologist and interdisciplinary thinker, noted for his 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Denial of Death.
77 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Ernest Becker →
Related Quotes
"The crux of the terror management answer to the question, "Why do people need self-esteem?" is that self-esteem funct…"
"To say the least, Becker's account of Nature has little in common with Walt Disney. Mother Nature is a brutal bitch, …"
"For Becker, the psychological purpose of self-esteem is to serve as an anxiety buffer. In other words, self-esteem se…"
"TMT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terror_management_theory Terror Management Theory starts with the proposition that …"
"Most animals experience fear only when faced with an imminent threat. However, because humans are born helpless and d…"
"Man does not seem able to “help” his selfishness; it seems to come from his animal nature. Through countless ages of …"
"One of the key concepts for understanding man’s urge to heroism is the idea of “narcissism.” As Erich Fromm has so we…"
"The prospect of death, Dr. Johnson said, wonderfully concentrates the mind. The main thesis of this book is that it d…"
"When we appreciate how natural it is for man to strive to be a hero, how deeply it goes in his evolutionary and organ…"
"Our heroic projects that are aimed at destroying evil have the paradoxical effect of bringing more evil into the worl…"