In Man for Himself , Erich Fromm examines the confusion of modern women and men who, because they lack faith in any principle by which life ought to be guided, become the helpless prey forces both within and without. From the broad, interdisciplinary perspective that marks Fromm’s distinguished oeuvre, he shows that psychology cannot divorce itself from the problems of philosophy and ethics, and that human nature cannot be understood without understanding the values and moral conflicts that confront us all. (...) He shows that an ethical system can be based on human nature rather than on revelations or traditions. As Fromm asserts, “If man is to have confidence in values, he must know himself and the capacity of his nature for goodness and productiveness.”. (shrink)

Publisher's Foreword As the present book is reissued, The American Mental Health Foundation celebrates its 86th anniversary. Organized in 1924, AMHF is ...

Man : wolf or sheep? -- Different forms of violence -- Love of death and love of life -- Individual and social narcissism -- Incestuous ties -- Freedom, determinism, alternativism.

Nothing less than a manifesto for a new social and psychological revolution to save our threatened planet, this book is a summary of the penetrating thought of ...

First published in 1962, this is a book about Marx and Freud - the two intellectual giants of the 20th century.

Values, psychology, and human existence -- Disobedience as a psychological and moral problem -- The application of humanist psychoanalysis to Marx's theory -- Prophets and priests -- Let man prevail -- Humanist socialism -- The psychological aspects of guaranteed income -- The case for unilateral disarmamament -- The psychological problems of aging.

Disobedience as a psychological and moral problem -- Prophets and priests -- Let man prevail -- Humanist socialism.

When he was 26, the great psychoanalyst and philosopher Erich Fromm abandoned Judaism, though he himself was descended from a long line of rabbis and the product of a devout Jewish upbringing. The title essay of this collection was first published in 1930, just four years after he made that first, decisive split. It was to point towards the future Fromm's work, presenting the view that an understanding of basic human needs is essential to the understanding of society and mankind (...) itself. The following essays too, show a man who would eventually establish himself as a major thinker, producing some of that era's most influential and astute political works. (shrink)

In the title essay, Erich Fromm uses the tools of psychoanalysis to examine the development of the dogma of Christ in the context of social history. The remaining essays examine psychological and cultural problems with keen insight and humanistic sympathies.

The Frankfurt School had a highly ambivalent relation to Judaism. On one hand, they were part of that Enlightenment tradition that opposed authority, tradition, and all institutions of the past -- including religion. They were also, for the most part, secular Jews who did not support any organized religion, or practice religious or cultural Judaism. In this sense, they were in the tradition of Heine, Marx, and Freud for whom Judaism was neither a constitutive feature of their life or work, (...) nor a significant aspect of their self-image and identity. (shrink)

Following the publication of the seminal Fear of Freedom, Erich Fromm applied his unique vision to a critique of contemporary capitalism in The Sane Society. Where the former dealt with man's historic inability to come to terms with his sense of isolation, and the dangers to which this can lead, The Sane Society took his theories one step further. In doing so it established Fromm as one of the most controversial political thinkers of his generation. Anaylsing how individuals conform to (...) contemporary capitalist and patriarchal societies, the book was published to wide acclaim and even wider disapproval. It was a scathing indictment of modern capitalism and as such proved unwelcome to many. Unwelcome because much of what Fromm had to say was true. Today, as we settle into the challenges of the 21st century, Fromm's writings are just as relevant as when they were first written. Read it and decide for yourself - are you living in a sane society? (shrink)

The point of departure used in the article is the statement that in the bourgeois character there is embedded a feeling, not always conscious, of profound impotence. Psychoanalytic experiences are presented to illustrate such feelings. In extreme cases the content of such feeling may be described as follows : „There is nothing I can influence ; nothing I can move ; nothing I can change by my will in the external {World or in myself. I have no power, I am (...) not taken seriously, I am for other people like air which no one notices.“The feeling of being without power may be in relation to other people, to oneself, or to things. Its most important psychological consequences are a feeling of inferiority, fear, and anger. A series of examples are described in which an attempt was made to soften the intensity of the feeling of impotence, or to eliminate it entirely. In this sphere rationalizations explain the impotence as the result of certain non-psychological conditions, rationalizations which console because of their belief in sudden miracles or changes over long periods of time ; finally, a reaction which consists in an attempt to hide this feeling in activity and mere routine.The social conditions of the origin of this feeling of impotence are found in two fields : first in the fact that the child in the bourgeois family, even if treated very favorably, is not really taken seriously, and then in the place the adult has in modern society, his helplessness and dependence on powers he cannot comprehend and control, in particular his position of impotence in a process of production governed by the principle of division of labor.At the end the author attempts to show this feeling of impotence and the rationalizations which covered it up in the political behavior of the European masses during the post-war period.L'article constate tout d'abord qu'un sentiment d'impuissance profond, encore que d'ordinaire inconscient, marque la vie bourgeoise. L'article utilise l'expérience que livre la psychanalyse des individus pour décrire ce sentiment d'impuissance. Dans les cas extrêmes, la description aboutit aux traits suivants : je ne puis exercer d'influence sur rien, je ne puis rien mettre en mouvement, ma volonté est incapable de rien changer ni dans le monde extérieur ni en moi-même, je n'ai pas de force, je n'existe pas pour les autres, je suis comme l'air qu'ils respirent. Le sentiment d'impuissance peut se rapporter aussi bien à d'autres hommes qu'à la personne elle-même, ou à des choses. Les suites psychologiques les plus importantes de ce sentiment sont : complexe d'infériorité, angoisse, colère. L'article décrit une série de tentatives pour adoucir, ou même chasser de la conscience la souffrance qui naît de cette impuissance. A cette catégorie appartiennent des rationalisations explicatives qui ramènent l'impuissance à certaines circonstances extra-psychiques ; des rationalisations consolatrices qui font croire à la brusque irruption d'un miracle, ou bien à des changements progressifs, fruits d'une longue durée ; enfin une forme de réaction qui, à force d'activité, de routine affairée parvient à couvrir le sentiment d'impuissance, qui reste inconscient. Deux ordres de conditions sociales favorisent la formation du sentiment d'impuissance : d’abord le fait que l'enfant dans la société bourgeoise, si affectueusement qu'il puisse être traité, n'est pas — au fond — pris au sérieux ; d'autre part, le rôle de l'adulte dans la société bourgeoise, sa propre impuissance et sa dépendance à l'égard de forces qu'il est incapable de maîtriser ou même de reconnaître, plus particulièrement sa position dans le procès de production, qui, par suite de l'extrême division du travail, lui enlève autonomie et efficacité. Pour terminer, l'article tente de retrouver ce sentiment d'impuissance et les diverses formes de rationalisations qui le dissimulent, dans l'attitude des masses européennes durant l'époque de l'après-guerre. (shrink)

The result and the duration of an analysis depend on how quickly a patient succeeds in penetrating the resistance which prevents the unconscious data from becoming conscious. In addition to the fears that the patient brings with him into the analysis, the attitude of the analyst is a factor strengthening or weakening the fears and, therefore, the resistance. It is not primarily relevant here what the analyst says or thinks consciously, but whether he unconsciously accepts the patient and his claim (...) to happiness unconditionally. Freud s attitude towards the patient might be characterized fundamentally as „tolerance“. He recommends facing the patient indifferently and coolly. The essay proceeds to demonstrate that this conscious liberalism involves unconsciously a strict repudiation and rejection of those impulses which are tabooed by bourgeois society, especially the sexual ones. Therefore, Freud in his authoritarian and patricentric character must be recognized as a typical representative of a society, which demands obedience and subjection. This attitude creates in the patient, despite its liberalism, new fears which make it more difficult to overcome the resistance and, therefore, blocks the success of the analysis.The liberal tolerance represents at the same time a conscious relativism towards all values and an unconscious recognition of the taboos of bourgeois society. To utilize the Freudian therapy in the best possible way, it is necessary to connect it with an independent philosophy to accept unconditionally the patient’s claim to happiness and eliminating from all valuations the taboos and abstract traits. Le succès et la durée de l’analyse dépendent de la rapidité avec laquelle le malade réussit à briser la résistance qui empêche les réalités inconscientes de parvenir à la conscience. Abstraction faite des angoisses avec lesquelles le malade arrive à l’analyse, l’attitude de l’analyste est elle-même un facteur susceptible de renforcer ou au contraire d’affaiblir les angoisses et, par suite, la résistance. Ce qui importe en première ligne ce n’est pas ce que l’analyste dit ou pense consciemment, l’essentiel est de savoir si, inconsciemment aussi, il prend une attitude entièrement favorable à T égard du malade et de la prétention au bonheur de celui-ci. L’attitude de Freud à l’égard du malade peut être caractérisée d’abord par le mot de „tolérance“. Il recommande de ne pas porter de jugements de valeur, d’être indifférent et froid à l’égard du malade. L’article montre que derrière ce libéralisme conscient se cache un refus brutal, une condamnation des désirs qui sont en opposition avec les tabous de la société, spécialement les tabous sexuels. En même temps Freud se révèle un représentant typique de la société actuelle par son caractère autoritaire „patrocentrique“ qui réclame obéissance et soumission. Cette attitude, en dépit de son libéralisme conscient, crée au malade de nouvelles angoisses qui augmentent la difficulté de l’effort pour surmonter les résistances et ainsi rendent plus difficile le succès de l’analyse.La tolérance libérale avec son double visage, relativisme conscient à l’égard de toutes les valeurs et respect inconscient des tabous bourgeois, marque les limites de la thérapeutique analytique. La mise en valeur maximum de la thérapeutique Freudienne ne serait assurée que si elle était liée à une philosophie indépendante. Accepter inconditionnellement l’exigence du bonheur du malade, dépouiller toutes les valeurs de leur caractère tabou et abstrait constitueraient les traits essentiels d’une telle mise en valeur. (shrink)

Cet article étudie surtout les raisons de Faccueil favorable réservé à la théorie du droit maternel de Bachofen par des milieux de tendances ans4’: divergentes que le socialisme et le néoromantisme. Il montre qu'il y a chez Bachofen des tendances correspondant d'une part à la philosophie romantique et d'autre part à la critique de la société patricentrique. L'une ou l'autre de ces tendances se trouve être à la base des sympathies exprimées pour la théorie de Bachofen, selon l'orientation spirituelle ou (...) politique de son public. Au delà de cette question, l'auteur cherche à démontrer que la connaissance du „complexe matricentrique“, fondée sur l'étude des civilisations matriarcales, enrichit la doctrine des motifs psychiques qui sont à la base de la société moderne.This paper concerns itself mainly with the reason why Bachofen's mother-right theory met with so positive a reception by two such opposed circles as the Socialists and the New Romantics. It shows that in Bachofen there were present tendencies of romantic philosophy as well as statements leading to a criticism of the patricentric society — and that according to one's spiritual and political affiliations this or that aspect of Bachofen was made the basis for sympathy with the theory. It is also shown that the extensive knowledge of,,matricentric complexes“ obtained from study of matriarchal cultures, afford fruitful possibilities for the understanding of the psychological impulses lying at the root of modern society. (shrink)