The Birth and Death of Meaning

This is to me is the best book ever written for understanding what human beings are, how we are similar to and different from other animal species, how we develop from helpless newborns to fully functioning adults, and what we are striving for in our lives. Most nonfiction books make a point and then repeat it over and over with examples and anecdotes. In contrast, The Birth and Death of Meaning begins with evolution and progresses logically from its first page to its last. When you finish this book, you will have a much better understanding of yourself, the people… show more.

Ernest Becker was a cultural anthropologist whose synthesizing of psychology, sociology, and anthology is unrivaled. This book, technically the first in a trilogy of his mature works, paves the way for his Pulitzer Prize wining book, The Denial of Death. Essential reading for anyone who is interested in a broad-based general theory of the human being, this book helps readers appreciate the vital role that symbols play in human life. It reveals how the human organism, a symbolic primate, grows to epic proportions and takes on new moral dimensions through symbolic activity. This is also important background reading for what… show more.

Ernest Becker is one of the few authors to tackle to problem of being a human being in a strange, unknown universe head on. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, The Birth and Death of Meaning covers a variety subjects that are at times uncomfortably intimate, yet also incredibly affirming, as if Becker is staring into your very soul to articulate all the things you feel yet fail to properly express. The writing is both accessible and stimulating, with some beautiful passages that are still stuck with me years after reading them.