The Sacred Scandal and Denial of Death
One of the acute paradoxes afflicting conscious human life is the awareness of death. The paradox reaches crisis when one fully realizes that death cannot be experienced — it occurs outside of...
View ArticleEgyptian Book of the Dead
In just a few days the British Museum will open its much anticipated Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead Exhibition. I have always thought that one of the best arguments in favor of Ernest Becker’s...
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Neolithic Death & Paleolithic Life
It is well known that the modern world religions which trace their origins to the Axial Age are centrally concerned with death. Some might call this concern an obsession. Of these world religions, only...
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Meditations on Mortality
At the start of my anthropology of religion course, I ask students to “explain” religion: Why do you think it exists? What do you think it does? The majority will usually give answers along existential...
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Post-Neolithic Death Obsessions
In the past 24 hours, I’ve come across a curious concatenation of death obsessions. If I didn’t know better, I’d take it as a sign — an omen from nothingness. The death stuff began with this review of...
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Death’s Moment
Is death having a moment? According to this Atlantic story, the answer for those involved in the “death movement” is yes: Forty years ago, the cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker claimed that fear of...
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