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CULTURAL HERO SYSTEMS AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS: THE IDEAL-REAL SOCIAL SCIENCE OF ERNEST BECKER
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Ernest Becker formulated a theory of human behavior based on the premise that the fear of death is the motivating principle of human behavior. Becker's "ideal-real" social science combined psychology with a mythico-religious perspective to provide a model that would insure the fullest liberation of man. A social phenomenologist, Becker believed that human beings needed to create a meaningful world. Traditional social science had failed man in that it did not provide the basis for a meaningful existence. Only by embracing a religious perspective could individuals overcome and transcend the crippling fear of death. This paper analyzes Becker's "ideal-real" social science. 2