Fromm: Review of Literature

ESCAPE FROM FREEDOM. NY: Farrar and Rinehart, 1941.

This was Fromm's first major book and was concerned with the “problems of the interaction between psychological and sociological factors in the analysis of modern institutional and ideological evolution.” It represents a psychoanalytic interpretation of history, which Fromm defines as the process of erosion of social stratification: increasingly leading to the “self-awareness as an individual.” He utilizes his theory of social character as a mechanism for understanding the relation between individual growth and historical evolution, presenting “social character” as both a theory and a method.. Fromm’s first major formulations on authority and “relatedness” are presented. He provides Weber’s “Protestant Ethic” with a psychological base. Also, he critiques Weber for postulating an “idealistic theory of social effects.” This work indicates Fromm’s attention to a “social self” and its relation to mass advertising, propaganda, and irrational political appeals, all in 1941.

MAN FOR HIMSELF. NY: Rinehart and Co., 1947.

This book is a continuation of Escape From Freedom. It contains the details of his theory of Social Character, including the derivation and explanation of “character orientations’ as “ideal types.” It is an analysis of the human condition,, man’s relation to nature, the nature of man, the paradox of reason, the “productive” man, the basis for a “scientific” study of human ethics, and his social psychological concepts of “socialization” and “assimilation.” He also analyses the “nurture” vs. “nature” debate. He defines “ideology” as “socially patterned rationalizations.”

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND RELIGION. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1950.

This book contains Fromm’s definition of religion and its critique, the development of his sociology of religion. It provides a glimpse of his nascent concept of “civil religion.” He demonstrates his concern with man’s beliefs through their religious ritual and symbolic expression, thus calling attention to Fromm’s “symbolic interactionism.”

THE FORGOTTEN LANGUAGE. NY: Rinehart and Co., 1951.

The main focus of this book is the use of symbolic language from a psychoanalytic perspective. Fromm presents three orders of symbols by which man interacts. He discusses his sociology of the family in terms of parental authority. Fromm gives his interpretation of Freud’s Oedipus Complex by situating it in a historical context of a patriarchal society. He also discusses “methods,” especially his ideas about “participant observation.” Finally, he provides his theories with a grounding in his clinical experiences.

THE SANE SOCIETY. NY: Rinehart and Winston, 1955.

This book is psychoanalysis applied to society. Fromm expands and situates his concept of the “pathology of normalcy” and his notion of a “pathological” or “insane” society. He discusses “positive” mental health, thereby critiquing “cultural relativity” and its definition of health as adjustment to the norms of a given society. He uses “alienation” as the key to diagnosis, as a “sociological/philosophical” category---referencing Simmel, Weber, Tawney, and Marx. He discusses his important concept he called “socially patterned defects.” He critiques the “quantification” and “abstractification” prevalent in the 20th century, providing an analysis of historical development and social change with an emphasis on the significance of historical awareness. He moves from a description of society as critique, to an analysis of the possibilities and alternatives based on what man could do. He portrays his sociology of education. Here is also found an early mention of his advocacy for a “guaranteed wage” for American workers. He also provides further analysis of his “marketing” man. Very importantly, this book provides a portrayal of Fromm’s sense of “social reality” and “society.” Fromm says, “There is no society in general, but only specific social structures which operate in different and ascertainable ways”(p. 27). For Fromm, social structure is to be viewed as both changing and moving (i.e. processual).

THE ART OF LOVING. NY and Evanston: World Perspectives, Vol. 9. Harper and Row, 1956.

This is a theoretical analysis of “love”: providing a phenomenological critique of the symbiotic nature of “love” as lived—experience in American-role-society. He also discusses the “androgynous” individual. Also provided is Fromm’s critique of Aristotelian (Formal) logic and his analysis of and preference for Dialectical (“paradoxical”) Logic.

SIGMUND FREUD’S MISSION. NY: World Perspectives, Vol. 21, Harper and Brothers, 1959.

This book is an example of “socially-situating” the thoughts of another thinker. Fromm applies social-psychoanalytic methods to Freud himself, thus, (among other things) exposing the relationship between ideas and the concepts of classical political economy.

ZEN BUDDHISM AND PSYCHOANALYSIS. NY: Harper, 1960. (With D. T. Suzuki and H. deMartino)

This contains Fromm’s most careful explication of the “unconscious.” He demonstrates that both consciousness and unconsciousness are products of social conditioning. He discusses illusions as the acceptance of the ideological “idea” of existence vs. the “reality of experience.” He specifies the inhibiting effects of language through “conventional verbalism.” He also expounds on “authority”: rejecting the “laissez—faire” absence of all authority.

MARX'S CONCEPT OF MAN. NY: F. Ungar Publishing Co., 1961.

This book is an attack on ethnocentric (cultural relativism) falsification of Marx’s ideas. His purpose is to rectify these distortions through an analysis of Marx’s early writings and by indicating the importance of Marx’s early philosophical positions and their continuing impact in the whole of his thought. He presents Marx’s basic rationale, humanist radicalism, as the unifying thread of the “whole” Marx. He discusses different meanings given to the concept of “materialism,” critiquing “polar materialism” and explaining “unity-materialism.” Overall, the book itself indicates attention to “social structure” on Fromm’s part--through Marx’s theories.

MAY MAN PREVAIL? NY: Doubleday, 1961.

This is a primary example of Fromm’s political commentary: his analysis of American foreign policy---highlighting Fromm’s attention to historical trends vis-à-vis theoretical development. It provides an analysis of “pathological” political thinking and assesses the dialectic of man and his circumstances. The linkage of politics and psychology is illustrated well.

BEYOND THE CHAINS OF ILLUSION. NY: Simon and Schuster, Credo Series, 1962.

The subtitle of this book is “My encounter with Marx and Freud,” the closest to an autobiographical presentation by Fromm than anything else he wrote. He presents the ideas of Marx and Freud side by side on topic by topic, developing the major points of his synthesis of them. This book might possibly be Fromm’s most sociologica1 work. He discusses the relation between “individual” character and “social” character, accompanied by a detailed discussion of the “social unconscious” and the importance of the “social filter.” Fromm gives his critique of “value-free” (i.e. “uninterested”) sociology; as well as his critique of “statistics” and “data collection.” The book could possibly be one of his most important works in terms of his systematization of his ideas.

THE DOGMA OF CHRIST AND OTHER ESSAYS ON RELIGION. PSYCHOLOGY, AND CULTURE. NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963.

This book contains a compilation of a wide-variety of subjects and perspectives of Fromm. The central piece is “The Dogma of Christ,” originally published in German in 1930, written at a time when Fromm was a “strict Freudian.” In the preface he acknowledges changes since then, but leaves the text the same, thus, providing a perspective on Fromm’s changes (as revealed in subsequent works). It contains the main elements of Fromm’s sociology of religion--- its social functions seen in historical development. Its greatest import might be his explanation of his social-psychoanalytic method and an application of it. It contains the early “kernel” of his method/theory of “social character,” and a critique of the “psychologistic approach to historical and social phenomena.”

The other essays are no less important and all are more recent. “The Present Human Condition” is a trenchant sociological and phenomenological critique of industrial capitalism, illustrating a clear picture of Fromm’s holistic approach to social reality. Among many other matters, Fromm critiques “marriage roles” as “...a team relationship between two people who manipulates each other with the right techniques.” Also, he provides a clear statement about a “new society” not being one of perfect harmony, but rather, one where true problems and conflicts exist, but not those created by logic and thought. He emphasizes the unsolvable nature of some of man’s true contradictions and the necessity of “living” with them. Finally, he exhibits the lived-process of the “looking-glass-self” in a marketing-oriented society.

“Sex and Character” is a definitive statement on “gender,” with a critique of current discussions of the “equality of the sexes.” He provides a discussion of “sex roles” and their relation to the sexual relations of the players of these roles, situating sex-role behavior in their socio-economic conditions. It also contains a critique of “feminism” because of its assumption that “equality” means “sameness.”

In “The Revolutionary Character,” Fromm presents his ideal of the “productive” individual. He delineates this by his discussion of “revolution” vs. “rebellion.” He contrasts “revolutionary character” with “authoritarian character,” and discusses “obedience” and “disobedience” as historical categories related to “ideology.” There is an interesting portrayal of “sexual desire” and “sexual satisfaction” for others as the means of breaking the bonds of dependence to family---that which “binds a person to those outside his family.” He ends this article with a portrayal of the revolutionary character as being synonymous with mental health and well being.

“Medicine and the Ethical Problem of Modern Man” critique “medical ethics” as practiced by physicians. Fromm says that doctors have complicity in the “thingification” of man. The article also contains a brief but important reference to items like “abstractification” and the alienating use of concepts versus the ability to think and he aware of reality as it is---Fromm’s epistemological critique of formal logic.

“On the Limitations and Dangers of Psychology” is a critique of “human relations”-psychology...as alienated, and in the service of adjustment-oriented behavior in the workplace.

THE HEART OF MAN: ITS GENIUS FOR GOOD AND EVIL. NY and London: Religious Perspectives Vol. 12, Harper and Row, 1964.

This is Fromm’s “response” to the so-called “realist” critics who think of him as a sentimental utopian. His major development here is of the “necrophile” as a secondary potentiality in man...man’s “propensity” for evil. He discusses both individual and social narcissism...which is Fromm’s critique of egoistic individualism. Finally, he distinguishes between “determinism” and “processes of causality” (or: determinations).

YOU SHALL BE AS GODS. NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966.

While largely a theological treatise, his attention to ritual (in everyday life) and symbolic interpretation in this book are pertinent. The book also pertains to his sociology of religion and his critique of its religious bias. As elsewhere, he contrasts the “reality of experienced values” with the “reality of concepts and words.”

THE REVOLUTION OF HOPE: TOWARD A HUMANIZED TECHNOLOGY. NY: Harper and Row. World Perspectives Vol. 38, 1968.

This is Fromm's phenomenological critique of what “passes for” hope and faith as a lived-experience. He critiques the alienating effects of concepts (i.e.. abstractification). He describes and critiques the signs of hopelessness among people. The book is, in effect, a sequel to The Sane Society (specifically related to the historical context of protest current in the late 1960’s). He critiques advancing technology and the “mega machine,” believing the protests of the time provide “realistic conditions” for change. He critiques the absolute dichotomy between freedom vs. control and centralization vs. localism, suggesting mechanisms of social charge.

THE CRISIS OF PSYCHOANALYSIS. NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970.

The lead article (and one other) was written especially for this book. The rest were written between 1932 and 1969 and in Fromm’s words, “are still the most complete and adequate presentation of the theoretical basis upon which my later work on the subject rests (p. 8). The first article is Fromm’s analysis of the social determinants of psychoanalysis. He critiques the “positivistic conformism” of psychology in genera1, paying close attention to the development of “ego psychology.” He describes psychoanalysis as a critical and radical method. He situates modern psychoanalysis in the process of bureaucratization and the “alienation of thought” in the 1arger context of similar processes.

In “Marx’s Contribution to the Knowledge of Man,” Fromm gives a brief resume of the core of Marx’s contribution to psychology, providing grounds for a synthesis of Marx and Freud.

In “Humanistic Planning,” Fromm deals with his “sociology of work” in terms of technological advance and the situation of man in the workplace. It is here that he refers to the famous experiments in the Hawthorne Plant of General Electric. He also calls for the integration of “man” into the system of “enterprise-government-society,” in order to seek ways out of the “crisis of man;” ways to concentrate on the “industrial problem of man” instead of on the “human problem of industry.”

The last two articles were both written in 1932. “The Method and Function of an Analytic Social Psychology” is Fromm’s clearest expression of historical materialism (which he calls a “theory of society”) and its relation to psychoanalysis (which he calls a “materialistic psychology”). He analyzes the presuppositions of psychoanalysis, which “make its method useful for investigations in social psychology and that rule out any conflict with sociology” (p. 144). He also identifies “life experiences” (MICRO) with the “socio-economic” situation (MACRO). He critiques the notions of a “mass soul” or “societal soul” which was so pertinent to Durkheim and others. He identifies “class structure” as vital to understanding the context of the family, the “psycho1ogical agent of society.”

“Psychoanalytic Characterology and its Relevance for Social Psychology,” is Fromm’s earlier attempt to develop “character types” from Freud’s typology. While still largely couched in Freudian terms, he was, at the time, in the process of developing his own terms, trying “to apply the findings of psychoanalytic characterology to a concrete sociological problem” (p. 178). Fromm can be seen here developing his ideas about the “spirit” of capitalism and the Puritan ethic. He transforms the term “spirit” from synonymous with “ideology” to mean “character traits,”---even those utilized in differing ideologies. Again, he portrays analytic social psychology as the method for sociology.

SOCIAL CHARACTER IN A MEXICAN VILLAGE: A SOCIO-PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDY. (With Michael Maccoby) Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1970.

This is Fromm’s major empirical attempt to test his theory of social character; entailing the application of the psychoanalytic method to the testing of groups (such as class), rather than individuals. It is an explicit portrayal of his “interpretative questionnaires” and his synthesized methodology of psychological and sociological techniques. With assistance from numerous scholars, he makes extensive use of statistical techniques such as factor analysis. He seeks clues for planning social change; critiques the impact of the modern media, and the “consumer culture.” Also, the authors develop other “ideal types” to replace useful, but limited, “character orientations” developed in earlier works. This is a very important book, if for no other reason than to “answer” critics about his lack of empirical testing of his theories. It has been compared favorably to the work of the Lynds.

THE ANATOMY OF HUMAN DESTRUCTIVENESS. NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973.

This is Fromm’s major attempt to resolve long-standing debates over “nature vs. nurture.” This extensive volume is a prime example of Fromm’s efforts at a synthesizing (holistic) approach to human existence. He presents and critiques the two poles of the debate: “instinctivism” and “behaviorism.” He situates, as usual, the entire debate in historical terms, including an analysis of each pole in terms of its political and social context, positing the “psychoanalytic” approach as the one which transcends the debate itself. In particular, the focus of this book is “aggression” and the nature of man. Fromm posits the concept of character as the mechanism of this transcendence, saying aggression is largely a learned phenomena rather than instinctive. However, this “learning” process is not merely the “nurture” pole. It is the process of relatedness to life as a problem, and thus, involves man as a “solver,” an agent in conditions.

There is much in this book which is important. Especially so is Fromm’s analysis of Skinnerian conditioning---a critique of both psychological and sociological methodologies. He also critiques Durkheim’s “anomie” and Tonnies’ polarities of community and society. He provides his own typology of primitive societies in terms of “aggressive,” “peaceful,” “hunting-gathering societies,” and “industrial societies,” the latter two in terms of character development. In short, he portrays the historical emergence of man.

TO HAVE OR TO BE? NY: Harper and Row, World Perspectives Vol. 30, .1976.

This was Fromm’s last major work. While in many respects it is a restatement of long-standing positions, this book is also a specific critique of “marketing” man in the 20th century, in light of two ways of relatedness to life: having and being. Fromm discusses the sources of these concepts, especially Marx, and gives a phenomenological treatment of them. Of particular interest is his handling of “time,” “dying,” “joy,” and “knowing.” He relates “utopian daydreaming” and “genuine utopian thinking” to “having” conceptions of time, and “being” conceptions of time, respectively.

In essence, this is a critique of the “promise” of bourgeois economics, a trenchant presentation of humanist radicalism, and of the “humanist protest”---situated as a response to the “marketing automaton” who, for instance, “has” religion but is living antithetically to “religion.” We also find a restatement of his social character theory. He provides an agenda for research efforts to study the nature of “needs” in a “marketing” society. He gives much attention to social structure, referring to it as “never-ending processes.”

GREATNESS AND LIMITATIONS OF FREUD’S THOUGHT. NY: Harper and Row, 1980.

While overall a good assessment of Freud’s thought (most of which appears elsewhere), of primary importance is Fromm’s concise statements about “scientific knowledge,” especially its limitations. He is especially critical of “the naive and positivistic method of relying on statistical results as theory-creating”(p. 12). He clearly differentiates between methods needed for the “natural” and “social” sciences. This is one of several good statements of Fromm’s philosophy of science.

ON DISOBEDIENCE AND OTHER ESSAYS. NY: The Seabury Press, 198l.

This is a compilation of “difficult to find” essays by Fromm, published after his death. Especially relevant are his articles on guaranteed income, unilateral disarmament, aging, and the relation between humanistic psychoanalysis and Marx’s theories.

THE WORKING CLASS IN WEIMAR GERMANY. Translated by Barbara Weinberger and edited, with an Introduction, by Wolfgang Bonss). Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984.

This is a publication of the first empirical research project of the “Frankfurt Psycho-Analytic Institute” : later called the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research. It was part of the larger study of the Institute called Authority and Family. It is primarily survey research investigating the subjective perceptions of workers in relation to social reality (lived—experience) during the time prior to the rise of Hitler. Overall, it is an example of Fromm’s relation to sociology, historical circumstances, and critical theory.