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The Narcissistic Character [Reprint from R. Funk: Life itself is an art, New York 2019, pp. 110-129]
(2021)
In my overview of the development of Fromm's theories, I show, first of all, how Fromm and his theory of relatedness and social character aimed to understand the individual and society in a different way from what was usual at that time. Secondly, I expound how relevant the often ignored social psychoanalytical approach is for current thinking in terms of relatedness, and how open his approach is to insights stemming from human biology.
Editor's Foreword
(1992)
Foreword
(1992)
Editor’s Introduction
(1997)
Editor’s Foreword
(1998)
Erich Fromm
(1997)
Fromm, Erich Pinchas
(1997)
Erich Fromm’s Life and Work
(2000)
Psychoanalysis can contribute quite a lot to the question of values and to a theory of ethics. While the first part of this presentation is focused on the impact psychoanalysis continues to exert on present day ethical theory, the second part discusses Erich Fromm’s particular approach to psychoanalysis. Fromm was the first to reformulate in his psychoanalytic approach the idea of an ethic of the virtues. With his theory of character (and of social character) he made values an integral part of psychoanalytic theory. Hence, what matters most morally from a psychoanalytic stance is the quality of character orientation. Despite the fact that – in Fromm’s own socio-psychoanalytic approach – man’s character is the product of adaptation to the environment, morality for him is dictated by economic and social requirements – whatever common sense may tell us to the contrary. For Fromm there is an intrinsic primary tendency to growth in all human beings. Thus, morally good is whatever furthers the growth of our own powers by which we relate to the outside world and to ourselves in a loving, >sane< and creative way. The last section reflects some implications of Fromm’s approach to understanding values as an integral part of psychoanalytic theory, and finally discusses whether the search for truth and human values is as obsolete as postmodern thinking claims.
Foreword
(2001)
Man for Himself: a classic?
(2003)
Erich Fromm's Role in the Foundation of the IFPS. Evidence from the Erich Fromm Archives in Tübingen
(2000)
First the role is discussed that Erich Fromm played in the foundation of the International Federation of Psychoanalytic Societies (IFPS) according to the documents and correspondence kept in the Fromm Archives in Tübingen (Germany). In the second part the perhaps more interesting question is discussed of what personally motivated Fromm to initiate and to establish a federation of psychoanalytic societies outside of the International Psycho-Analytical Association (IPA). Although the reasons and motivations for Fromm's initiative are in the first line historical they nevertheless have some impact on the present. Therefore, in a final section, Fromm's understanding of psychoanalysis is discussed as a challenge for the IPA as well as for the IFPS.
I shall start by showing Erich Fromm’s particular social psychological approach to the understanding of man. In the main part, a new character type is presented that can be observed particularly in highly industrialized countries where people are devoted to the so-called postmodern way of life. Finally, I shall interpret the meaning of an individual’s deep longing for constructing life and reality anew and without any limitations resp. to participate in those enacted life styles that establish a feeling of belonging to those fabricated realities. This will enable me to ask about such an individual’s unconscious feelings and beliefs and his or her social and personal functioning.
Introduction
(2009)
Direct Meeting
(2009)
Prize awarding
(2010)
Foreword
(2010)
Foreword
(2010)
According to Erich Fromm and a relational psychoanalytic approach, changing economic and social requirements always impact human beings and their psychic structure. Because globalization leads particularly to a blurring of boundaries and limitations, the formation of a new character orientation that is driven to construct reality anew without limitations can be observed as a reaction in progress. The pathogenic effects of globalization can be studied through the analysis of this new character formation and the uncovering of repressed, unconscious feelings that characterize the new personality type, especially in regard to their sense of identity, their way of relating to others, and their defacto loss of ego strength – in contrast to the enacted >ego unlimited<. Finally, some aspects of transference and countertransference, as well as some particular defense reactions with which we psychoanalysts are confronted in the treatment of patients suffering from the pathogenic effects of globalization, will be discussed.
Rainer Funk offers another perspective on social character and clinical work. His main thesis is that the analysis of social character, understood as the syndrome of common traits shared by a class or group within society, is as important for understanding any given person as is his or her particular history and idiosyncracies. According to Funk, most clinical work starts and often ends with the analysis of what makes a particular individual unique and focuses almost exclusively on a patient's childhood. This approach runs the risk of overlooking assumptions shared by analyst and analysand alike that may be pathogenic or limiting, but are not recognized as such by virtue of their being shared social and cultural premises. Funk goes further by saying that contemporary social character, described by Fromm as the marketing orientation, has a pervasive alienating influence that corrupts efforts to build loving relationships or develop creative talents. This corrosive influence will infect the therapeutic effort unless the analyst is aware of social influences that have molded his or her own character and has a vision of human growth that is not distorted by this influence. Funk distinguishes self-alienation rooted in authoritarian structures or symbiotic dependency from self-alienation of the marketing orientation. Following Fromm's analysis, he believes that the marketing character's pervasiveness is due to its being part of a >socially patterned defect.< Funk puts on center stage the analysis of alienating social character that affects the analyst and patient alike. Any stance that deviates from this position would be suspect if not collusive in Funk's view.
Foreword
(1991)
Foreword
(1994)
Erich Fromm was not only one of the founders of IFPS in the 1960s, but also one of the forerunners of the intersubjective tradition in psychoanalysis. Trained at the Berlin Institute, he started in the 1930s, after emigrating to the USA, to reformulate psychoanalytic theory by focusing on man’s need to be related to reality, to others, and to him- or herself. Similarly to Sullivan, Fromm looked at man primarily as a social being. But in contrast to Sullivan, Fromm stressed much more man’s being molded by societal requirements and by an intersubjectivity that is determined by strivings originating in the structure of his social character. Because of Fromm’s ‘‘societal’’ orientation, his approach to psychoanalysis is still of relevance to understanding how the intersubjective and intrapsychic are interwoven in each individual. Beyond that, his approach enables insights into what is going on psychically in society and how these changes can influence the individual’s welfare or suffering.
Particularly due to technical innovations, we are witnessing an unbounding of reality that increasingly is reflected in an inner striving to get rid of the limitations and boundaries of our own personality by reconstructing it anew. This pursuit of de-limitation, dissolution and blurring of boundaries is seen as a central character trait of the Ego-oriented social character. Such a fabrication of a limitless per-sonality doubtless results in a weakening of such psychic abilities as experiencing one’s self as a consistent and ambiguous entity, being emotionally attached to oneself and to others, feeling one’s own strivings, affects and emotions, and being guided by one’s internalized norms and values. Lastly, the impact of this character formation is discussed in regard to clinical and therapeutic issues.
Particularly due to technical innovations, we are witnessing an unbounding of reality that increasingly is reflected in an inner striving to get rid of the limitations and boundaries of our own personality by reconstructing it anew. This pursuit of de-limitation, dissolution and blurring of boundaries is seen as a central character trait of the Ego-oriented social character. Such a fabrication of a limitless personality doubtless results in a weakening of such psychic abilities as experiencing one’s self as a consistent and ambiguous entity, be-ing emotionally attached to oneself and to others, feeling one’s own strivings, affects and emotions, and being guided by one’s internalized norms and values. Lastly, the impact of this character formation is discussed in regard to clinical and therapeutic issues.
Erich Fromm’s Legacy
(2015)
Foreword
(2022)
This article, based on the author’s keynote speech at the first International Conference on Critical and Radical Humanist Work and Organizational Psychology at the University of Innsbruck, draws on radical humanist theorizing on human productivity and the >pathology of normalcy< in demon-strating the importance of the contribution of Erich Fromm as a basis for Critical Psychology . The sociologist and psychoanalyst Erich Fromm (1900-1980) developed a social psychological method, the special significance of which is that it explicitly captures unconscious motivations and impulses. This makes it possible to identify strivings and behaviors, as well as common values and thought patterns, which, from a humanistic perspective, represent socially patterned mental >defects<. Based on Fromm’s concept of social character, what is perceived as >normal< and >reasonable< in a given society can be exposed as a potential >pathology of normalcy<. After briefly outlining major con-cerns of the project of Critical Psychology, Erich Fromm's social-psychoanalytical approach is in-troduced. The following sections are dedicated to the significance of character formation for ex-plaining social behavior, social repression and socially patterned defects. Next, some indications will be given regarding the meaning of human productivity according to Erich Fromm. Subsequently, the pathogenic impacts of social character orientations will be illustrated based on the exemplary types of the authoritarian and the contemporary marketing social character. The article concludes with a short summary of Erich Fromm’s contribution to Critical Psychology.
Human Relationships and Mental Health. Insights and Findings from Erich Fromm’s time in Mexico
(2023)
The paper analyzes right-wing populism according to Erich Fromm’s socialpsychoanalytic approach and using his social-characterological insights on authoritarianism and narcissism. Right-wing populism can be explained much more plausibly if it is understood as an expression of a reactive narcissistic identity construction rather than as a return of fascism and authoritarianism.
Introduction
(2019)
Introduction
(2015)