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Ernest Becker and the Psychology of Worldviews
Author(s) -
Webb Eugene
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
zygon®
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-9744
pISSN - 0591-2385
DOI - 10.1111/0591-2385.1271998127
Subject(s) - irrational number , scapegoating , rationality , unconscious mind , illusion , epistemology , psychoanalysis , interpretation (philosophy) , psychology , philosophy , subjectivism , positive economics , cognitive psychology , economics , law , geometry , mathematics , politics , political science , linguistics
Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, and Tom Pyszczynski offer experimental confirmation for Ernest Becker's claim that the fear of death is a powerful unconscious motive producing polarized worldviews and scapegoating. Their suggestion that their findings also prove Sigmund Freud's theory of repression, with worldviews as its irrational products, is questionable, although Becker's own statements about worldviews as “illusions” seem to invite such interpretation. Their basic theory does not depend on this, however, and abandoning it would enable them to take better advantage of their finding that worldviews incorporating the values of rationality and tolerance tend to counteract polarization effects.