The Terror of Death: Nature vs. Nurture
The terror of death is a common feeling people experience. The cause of this fear is arguably due to nature or nurture depending on your perspective and experiences. Scholars Ernest Becker and Antonio Gualtieri discuss death and where it originates and its causes. There are psychological components which create a terror of death, such as development from an early age. The way in which a child is raised is also believed to greatly impact their relationship with death. The terror which originates throughout one’s life depends on many factors, such as personal experience. The terror of death stems from two main components: nature and nurture, and each plays a role in the development of terror associated with death, that people may have for the duration of their entire life.
There are different arguments which are offered about the terror of death: the healthy-minded argument, the morbidly-minded argument, and the disappearance of this fear of death. Becker expands on each of these and discusses various viewpoints. Becker’s article sees the “two divergent positions of our fear of death, “the environmental” and “innate” positions as both part of the same picture, and sees them “merge naturally into one another” (Becker, 1973).
Therefore, collectively these experiences and our own psychological predispositions, combine to form the degree to which our terror of death is realized.
Benefits of having a terror of death can be linked to religions. Religions can influence people to do good deeds and attempt to live a respectible life. Without the presense or possiblity of death, these actions may not occur, thus a terror of death can be viewed as a benefit. Becker expands on the role society plays in creating a fear of death which shows the strong element of nurture present in its development. This is specifically seen as a “cultural mechanism” which serves to control or limit societies actions, by reminding them that death should be an immediate concern and issue. Gualtieri writes that “axiological presense means that death, normally experienced as disvalue, paradoxically acheives a certain positive valuation in the light of its capacity to generate commitment to supreme value” (Gualtieri, 1984, 169).
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He argues that death is present in our lives in three modes, existential anxiety, death-anxiety, and axiologically. Gualitieri’s explanation of the axiological aspects of death makes the reader aware of what matters in life and also the crucial element of time, and our eventual mortality. He also infers that “not death, but the dread of death is the punishment for sin (Gualtieri, 1984, 171).
In contrast, Zilboorg’s argument that “this fear is actually an expression of the instinct of self-preservation which functions as a constant drive to maintain life and to master the dangers that threaten life” supports the nature side of this argument. Interestingly, this creates a reaction in society to put forth an effort to fight off disintegration. Becker further supports the necessity of this terror, since he believes it “must be present behind all our normal functioning in order for the organism to be armed toward self-preservation”. Although the terror of death causes us to act, as if it were all we thought about, we would not be able to function without it (Becker, 1973).
People are motivated by many things, and make choices based on experiences and desires. If death is seen as major threat then this unconsciously influences their life.
Naturally, a healthy-mindedness is believed to exist in the early stages of life. Negative experiences in the environment can shift this and create psychological issues related to the terror of death. Beliefs of mortality and understandings of religions create different paths for people to follow, each with his or her own sense of fate. Similarly, on page 172 Gualitieri says that “the emergence of death anxiety is the consequence of estrangement, both from the creator and the human community” and he argues that “one of the major constituents of the dread of death is the rupture of the human relation” (Gualitieri, 1984, 172).
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From a nature perspective this means that the absense of love would make death anxiety increase, thereby increasing the terror of death. In contrast, a lack of social connections and contacts will increase death-anxiety according to this argument. Thus, living in a highly socialized community may decrease death anxiety, but negative personal experiences can still affect people adversely.
My relative died on a hijacked plane six years ago, and this still makes me feel uncomfortable whenever I get on a plane. The fact that innocent people die every year in unpredictable circumstances is a reason why people fear death, and is directly linked to the environment or nurture. The world is not always a safe place. Growing up in a good family, with caring parents does not really prepare you for the outside world and the terror of death. However, personal experiences like mine and many others who have had family members die in natural disasters or accidents know they are lucky to be alive.
In conclusion, nature and nurture both contribute to the degree of terror associated with death that people experience. Becker believes that they are part of the same picture and naturlly merge into each other. Although the terror of death is negative, there are benefits. For example religions have influenced people to act morally and do good deeds in order to reach a promising fate. Similarly, Gualitieri’s axiological explanation of death reminds people about what is important in life and influences them to commit to supreme values. He also suggests that death anxiety is a result of estrangement from the human community. Many causes of death exist today which are directly linked to environment, such as disasters and accidents, as well as war. Innocent people dying is also a reason why the terror of death is prevalent in today’s society.
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References
Becker, Ernest (1973).
The denial of death: The terror of death. New York: Simon & Schuster, pp. 55-65.
Gualtieri, Antonio (1984).
The vulture and the bull: The axiological presence of death in life. Lanham: University Press of America, pp.160-176.
