The Fear of Freedom (Routledge Classics)

This purchase was me replacing an old copy of a book which was extremely influential on my thought back in the day. The issues it raises are just as pertinent today as ever, especially the analysis of the socia/political manifestations of sadomasochism/authoritarian personality. Highly recommended. He looks at "freedom from" and "freedom to" and his basic premise is that our unfolding is a matter of relating to the world through Love and Work. Given the distortions out culture puts on both of those things.......read on!

This book is a classical non fiction work which everybody must read nowadays.

I love this book. I read it as a student in the 1960s. A powerful analysis of how fear works it way through us all, as individuals and as members of communities. It will I am sure always be in demand. Seminal and classic.

Another book that could have been a tenth of the published length: Erich Fromm was a man desperately in need of an editor. Having ploughed diligently through the first 100 pages, making notes (summarizing it to my satisfaction on one side of A4), I skim-read the second half, increasingly enraged by the number of ways in which he found to repeat himself. One gets the impression of a number of essays glued together, each written from start to finish on a sleepless night (think Kerouac's On The Road) and never revisited. And he doesn't cite psychological studies or theories - although his principal angle is psychological rather than historical - so we have to take his word for it on as who why A leads to B etc. He is a man who claims to 'know' a lot but offers little support for it. The first part (on the Middle Ages -> Reformation) was illuminating, but only for historical rather than psychological reasons. To summarize: the feudal system broke down (no explanation), capitalism began to emerge (no explanation), Luther and Calvin appeared (mirroring the economic changes psychologically), and mankind was freed from the security of old way and thus became anxious with his new-found freedom. We still seeks paternal systems in which to immerse ourselves so we feels better. Thank you and good night.

What I liked: Erich Fromm makes a groundbreaking attempt to explain the neurotic behaviour of modern human, based on the feeling of anxiety and aloneness they experience, which stems from them not having developed the skills to cope with the "freedom" they have gained and struggled for through the centuries.What I didn't like: Some thoughts are repeated too many times, maybe on purpose, for reasons of understanding (as is the case for scientific works).

Perfect , as described , superfast delivery , highly recommended seller

The Humanistic philosopher Erich Fromm, from the Frankfurt School, wrote ‘The Fear of Freedom’ in 1941. He argued strongly for positive freedom and that man’s freedom needs to move from the negative to the positive. For Fromm, positive freedom marks the beginning of humanity as a species conscious of its own existence free from base instinct. Fromm believed in ‘freedom to’ change society but he also believed in ‘freedom from’ internal prohibitions such as guilt and conscience. He saw these as repressive instead of counterbalancing man’s natural ego-centricity. His hopeful take involves human beings evolving beyond their instinctual aspects, that characterise lower animal forms. His hope is what still propels many to this day.It is questionable however, whether Fromm was naively optimistic or ideologically manipulative in attempting to transform the basal instinct in mankind, and arrive at self-regulating people. Instead, his Marxist philosophy damages Western civilisation and his permissive attitude contributes to Narcissism by promoting ego-centricity and damaging mental health and family life.

Erich Fromm is an inspirational writer. What distinguishes him from some other inspirational writers is his insistence that society does not need to be transformed before you can achieve great things: you can achieve already and in so doing contribute towards bettering the world. This is an important difference, to my mind. For his is not an optimism which leads ultimately to an intractable pessimism as the realisation dawns on you that transforming society is too tall an order: the efficacy of his advice does not depend on such fundamental and sweeping global changes.The Fear of Freedom for me combines what is useful in Hegelianism, Marxism and Freudianism while also doing away with the untenable theoretical systems that would otherwise undermine what is precious in them. Fromm declares that modern man is in the unprecedented historical situation of being conscious of his freedom, which however is a double-edged sword, for although it opens up a new horizon of potential self-determination, it also bears down upon the individual with an unprecedented weight of responsibility (and culpability, in the end).Fromm provides an interesting, easy-to-read and unflattering critique of Luther and Calvin as well as a psychological explanation of the appeal of fascism. It is strange to read this work today, which talks of Hitler and Nazi Germany in the present tense. (It was written during the war).The book is a clarion call for human beings to accept responsibility for their fates. I do not think that the Frommian man is an Übermensch, or a hero of the classical mould: he is too modest and aware of his limitations to aspire to such dangerous heights - he does not have the backing of an omnipotent god or age-old myth to prop him up. He has his own resources, and that's it. The Frommian man fits the modern prototype of the hero; filled with a dogged determination to achieve comparatively small aims using his own modest means, he achieves more and better things because he does not compromise himself in his achievements or appeal to illusions to justify his actions.