158 - Sheldon Solomon: Terror Management Theory and the Denial of Death

Sheldon Solomon is Professor of Psychology at Skidmore College. He is best known for developing terror management theory with Tom Pyszczynski and Jeff Greenberg, which explores human psychology and mortality. In this episode, Robinson and Sheldon discuss Ernest Becker’s groundbreaking book The Denial of Death, how it influenced him and his collaborators, and how they have studied—with the tools of contemporary social psychology—how humans are affected by their sense of mortality. The Worm at the Core: https://a.co/d/7p05yA6 OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:51 Introduction 03:33 Discovering Ernest Becker 08:29 What Is Self-Esteem? 19:04 Freud and the Denial of Death 27:20 Man and the Heroic Journey 46:41 Where Was Becker Wrong? 54:44 What Is Terror Management Theory? 01:06:26 Children’s Fear of Death 01:10:23 A History of Death Denial 01:14:19 Possible Criticisms 01:18:00 A Prescriptive Dimension to Death Denial Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.