Darwin’s Metaphor. Nature’s Place in Victorian Culture. Cambridge (Cambridge University Press) 1985.
(1985)
Erich FROMM's scientific method developed from an attempt to integrate Marxism and psychoanalysis. This approach evolved from the postulate that the human being, defined by the complex interaction of its biological, psychological, anthropological, and philosophical essences, is the center of society and scientific endeavor. Thus, the crisis of being could be resolved by social science with the help of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis deals with the constant parameters of human nature, while science formulates the best characteristics of the optimal human community. In formulating them, it is guided by anthropocentric, humanistic ethics, where man is the measure of all things. FROMM believes that, with some modifications, Sigmund Freud's theories could be of help in discovering the essence of human beings. With his theory of social transformation, on the other hand, Karl Marx offered a way to integrate human essence with existence. FROMM's specific contribution was to supply a credible theory of human nature, which Marx and social science have neglected.
Erich Fromm. Pensamiento y obra. Prólogo de Ramón Xirau, Paraguay 1985, 258 pp. (AZ Editora).
(1985)