Erich Fromm: A Concordance of Sociological Concepts

In an online article which I wrote about Erich Fromm and sociology...attempting to indicate he had a sociological perspective...I concluded with the following paragraph:

If my position in this essay is somewhat near the mark, then what should be next? If Fromm has a sociological perspective, then an explication of it is necessary. As said earlier, Fromm never systematized his sociology and nobody else has tried to do it, either. Part of this should include a detailed review of his books and articles (and some of the commentary on him) for the exact locations and extent of his sociological terms, ideas, and concepts. Likewise, the development of his sociological or at least sociologically-relevant formulations need to be worked on. These tasks remain...but Fromm is worth it.

What follows is an attempt to fulfill part of this agenda...to indicate his sociological ideas and concepts and where they can be found in his writings...a "modest" concordance of his books. I say "modest" for a number of reasons. First, this concordance deals solely with his books...most of them but not all...but certainly his major ones. Although I already have started a smaller concordance of many articles by Fromm, I will wait to post it until I can expand and develop it more. Second, it is a "modest" concordance because it is by no means comprehensive...but rather, is a beginning which deals with more obvious ideas...yet hopefully indicative ones and interesting ones. Much remains to be done to improve what’s here as well as to develop it more fully. Third, it is "modest" because in light of so many scholars utilizing and developing the ideas of Fromm today, I can’t be anything but modest about what I’ve presented here. This isn’t false modesty on my part...I simply know that I don’t stand in the upper ranks of those scholars and thinkers...yet, at least. With this as a beginning, I will strive to earn the respect of the Frommian community in general and the sociologically-oriented part of it specifically.

This leads me back to the reason why I’ve done this work and why I’ve posted it for all to see and hopefully utilize. I believe that it is the first of a kind...at least I’ve been unable to locate anything quite like it, but I’m open to the possibility. More to the point and as I indicated in the quote which began this Introduction, I believe its the first attempt at a concordance of Fromm’s sociological ideas...the initial and necessary step to ultimately systematizing his sociology (without, of course, doing anything to diminish his holistic worldview which spanned so many disciplines and subjects). Despite my "modesty disclaimer" above, I’m happy to present this Concordance of Fromm’s Sociological Concepts for use by others...whether that use be of general interest or of theoretical/research interest.

So and although this has so far been a personal effort, it would seem to me that it could be more than that as time goes on. In other words, I want to openly, explicitly, and professionally invite others to contribute to this Concordance’s improvement and development. There may be others who already have their own listings of Fromm’s sociological (broadly conceived) ideas...who might want to add those ideas and references to this one. If so, I encourage you to make this contribution. Also, there may be others who simply want to help improve this concordance...with more concepts/references as well as comments and corrections. Again, I encourage and welcome this contribution and look forward to making needed adjustments to what already exists.

Of course, if anyone does contribute in these ways or in ways I’m overlooking at the moment, professional and, if necessary, legal arrangements will be made...but as of right now, this concordance simply ""is"...legally unprotected. Although I DO know better, I wish it could remain simply that, too...in the public domain unowned by anyone.

One more area to note is the mentioning and use of Fromm’s many ideas in the secondary literature about him. This immense body of work is a goldmine of references for use in this concordance. I already have a very small listing of sociological concepts in a very limited part of this literature and I will post it in due time (after I get the "articles concordance" online). Meanwhile, authors of this literature and readers of it are invited to join this effort to finally make the sociologically-oriented and relevant ideas of this man available and accessible to old and new audiences. I welcome any and all overtures about this matter of the secondary literature.

Lastly, although this is being called a concordance of Fromm’s sociological concepts, quite clearly one doesn’t need to be a sociologist to appreciate Fromm. As most know, Fromm is nominally and variously called a psychologist, humanist psychologist, and psychoanalyst. He has been labeled as a Freudian and a revisionist Freudian...and worse, I might add. My point here is that I believe this concordance will be of interest to psychologists as well as sociologists...social philosophers and maybe some plain ole philosophers. His views on capitalism and socialism may find interest in some areas of economics. His political views contain his own brand of political science. Again, I hope this concordance finds acceptance and use among a variety of general and academic thinkers.

LOGISTICAL DETAILS

This Concordance is arranged alphabetically...with each letter (except XYZ) on a separate page in The Sociology Shop (TSS) and the background is white and print is dark to facilitate ease of printing, if desired. Each letter page has a link to a Legend/Menu of Book Abbreviations used. Each letter page has two alphabet bars (at top and bottom) for easy access to other letters in the concordance. Finally, each letter page has a link to The Erich Fromm Room of TSS, as well as a Directory of all Rooms/Topics in TSS. If you have any suggestions as to how to improve the Concordance’s presentation, please let me know.

Finally, thank you for your attention and thoughts while reading this (I know you’re having some) and I hope you enjoy surfing through the Concordance. The discovery or rediscovery of the breadth and range of Fromm’s ideas is an exciting one, at least to me...and I‘m pretty sure to others, and will continue, I hope, to be for generations to come. I hope this Concordance contributes in some small way to this process.