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I have chosen, for the jubilee volume, my article >Freedom vs. Intolerance – Variations on the Theme of Supernatural Wives and Husbands<. It appeared in the volume entitled >We are all Indians< Violence – Intolerance – Literature, edited by Wojciech Kalaga and Tadeusz Sławek (Katowice 1990). This was a special time for all of us; today it is called the time of breakthrough, or transformation. The topic of my article, and most other articles contained in this volume, is connected with the problem of freedom and enslavement, which, bearing in mind the atmosphere of that period, was almost inevitable. Thus, the reader will find, in that article of mine, reflections concerning the so called positive and negative freedom, some thoughts about Erich Fromm’s book >The Fear of Freedom<. I used there also an old proverb, quoted in the writings of Sir Isaiah Berlin: >to be free is nothing, to become free is the very heaven<, a proverb that sounded very appropriate in the times when we all in Poland were regaining our lost freedom. The article itself is a heady mixture of threads and motifs taken from classical and modern philosophy, folktales, Biblical traditions and mythology, whereas the typical literary studies, or history of literature, are virtually absent there. This rather unconventional approach is, to some extent, typical of the style of academic discourse characteristic of the English studies as understood and practised in the University of Silesia at that time, that is in the 1980s and 1990s. This style was shaped, among other persons, by the, often indirect, influence of such personalities as Wojciech Kalaga, Tadeusz Sławek, Emanuel Prower, Tadeusz Rachwał, or, last but not least, Ewa Borkowska, who also contributed to the volume in question. Naturally, I am solely responsible for what I wrote in that article, which is a rather faithful reflection of my interests (and perhaps also obsessions) in that very memorable period of time.
In today’s world characterized by changed systems of values and materialism, pedagogy should emphasize education for a positive self-image, especially in the contemporary school, whose educational goals are freedom, independence and individuality. This theoretical analysis provides a review of research on the importance and relationship of positive self-image with other factors, such as social skills and academic achievement. Simultaneously, the methods and procedures by which teachers can foster a student’s positive self-image are displayed. Although the degree of positive self-thinking is for the most part formed in interaction with other people, it is extremely important to raise students’ awareness about their own internal strengths as well as their possibility of choice. The education of a positive self-image can be considered a part of >positive pedagogy< or >positive education< which focuses on traditional skills and happiness, but also joy – fervor that accompanies being (Fromm, 2004, p. 130)
In 1950, Elihu Katz submitted his MA thesis called >The Happiness Game – A Content Analysis of Radio Fan Mail< at Columbia University. It was supervised by Leo Löwenthal, and drew on recently published work by Paul Lazarsfeld, Robert Merton, and Erich Fromm. The topic for the thesis came from Löwenthal, who, as Katz now recalls, was then preparing to become Director of Research for Voice of America. Somehow, he obtained from CBS, perhaps through Lazarsfeld, several thousand letters sent in to the network during the early months of 1948. He was interested in letters sent by listeners in anticipation of such mail landing on his desk in his new position. The letters were sorted into different bundles and assigned to various graduate students for analysis. It was a happy chance that the bundle assigned to Katz were letters sent in by listeners (overwhelmingly female) in response to a request from a popular radio broadcaster of the day, Ted Malone. Malone asked regular listeners to his daytime show to note whenever they felt happy across the whole of February 1948 (a leap-year) and, at the end of the month, to send him a letter telling of their happiest day. Over two thousand letters were received, and from this, a sample of 236 letters was selected and submitted to a careful content analysis which formed the substance of the thesis. Immediately following this, Katz entered the doctoral program in the Department of Sociology and began to work with Lazarsfeld, a collaboration which culminated in Katz’s work on the Decatur survey material that Lazarsfeld had commissioned in 1943. It became his doctoral thesis and was published as >Personal Influence< (1955), co-authored by Katz and Lazarsfeld – a landmark in American sociological literature.
The following >note from the field< is based off of first-hand observations and experiences had while living and working as an affiliated professor at a Chinese university. Noting the well-known political restrictions existing in China, the piece argues that against dominant Western narratives depicting a lack of freedom within China, there ostensibly appear spaces offering levels of emotional and interactional freedoms greater than what one can experience in the West. This argument is framed within the thought of Western intellectuals such as David Riesman, Erich Fromm, C. Wright Mills and Stjepan Mestrovic, and is advanced by considering the vast historical and cultural changes in recent Chinese history that have created an anomic condition in regards to newly emerging spaces made possible by vast wealth acquisition in the last several decades.
In the article problems connected with possibilities of analyzing human behavior in context of propensities were discussed. Main focus was put on differences in propensities with respect to sex, also in context of E. Fromm’s personality theory. Methodological issues related to propensities were presented. Definition of propensity and methods of measuring propensities were also proposed. In empirical example differences in propensity to smoke cigarettes and propensity to drink alcohol with respect to sex in Polish voivodeships in year 2004 were estimated. Also, econometric models explaining that kind of propensities were introduced.
Although the once wildly popular writings of Erich Fromm have fallen into desuetude in the 21st century, Fromm remains a relevant figure for anyone interested in the interpenetrating fields of psychoanalysis, cultural criticism, personal spiritual development and civic engagement in domestic and international affairs. For that reason, his thought is eminently worthy of being revisited. At least that is the claim of Lawrence J. Friedman in his new biography, >The Lives of Erich Fromm: Love’s Prophet<.
The aim of this short contribution is to present a summary of the decision problem within the profession of the pedagogue, and the fundamental role of the abduction (>απαγωγή<, retroduction) process in its proper context, in professional practice of the pedagogue, as in all professional practice involving the social and professional pedagogy. Pedagogy is a field for reflection, application and commitment or engagement to education. Moreover, pedagogy is establishing itself as a profession, the profession of the pedagogist (not of the educator, who is a different figure), in the socio-health, intellectual, cultural and aid profession field, even in spite of heavy delays and failures of the Italian laws and the resistance of professional groups related but already recognized both by law and by society. The so-called >pedagogical interlocution< is a paradigmatic form of the professional pedagogical practice. Decision in professional pedagogy, properly speaking, must be reached by the interlocutor(s), who must debate and develop it, with the aid of the professional pedagogue. Abduction is not a valid syllogism: it concerns a possible example of a general case or of a rule, who's the actual pertinence to this general case or this rule is mediated by the professional or expert assumptions. The professional approach of the pedagogue, from methodological point of view, is casuistic (case based) and situational as a form of aid given to the person, alternative and other than to the statistical-operational methodology that addresses rather to populations composed of individuals. Cases of general interest in professional pedagogy can be labeled as >casuistries< or >case study< categories. A good collection of casuistries-case study categories is provided by Erich Fromm, concerning the problems of family education; and by Viktor E. Frankl in his search for sense, Lebenssinn or λόγος. A further range of examples of categories based on case studies which can be dealt with a pedagogical professional methodology are the life and studies orientation problems. A fourth class of examples, applicable differently but methodologically similar, offers to us the autogenic training, particularly the choice of the propositional formula, called and eventually repeated both in the opening and in the closure, which must be adapted to the particular case of each single person; and this can be considered a specific pedagogical competence as the gradual training to the technique proposed by Johannes Heinrich Schultz reveals to be. Professional pedagogy, by this way, can make an important and an authentic and specific contribution to general discussion about decision in the social, human and cultural sciences (or Human-, Sozial-, Geisteswissenschaften).