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Reflections on our Heritage from Erich Fromm. The Humanistic Ethics of Erich Fromm (A Symposium)
(1994)
Contends that E. FROMM (1947) saw existential anxiety over the certainty of death as a fundamental and primary force in all human cultures. Anthropological examples (the Danai, Yanomamo, and Ojibwa) and the world view implied demonstrate that culture implies parataxis, since it expressly teaches people how to channel and focus their fears. FROMM pointed out that human beings have the capacity to change their environment and adapt to it alloplastically. Since culture is the means by which this adaptation comes about, there must be some accommodation to the environment. FROMM's interest in defining social character as a way of perceiving reality and structuring motivation through enculturation into a particular values system was a group-level parallel to Sullivan's interest in parataxis. Blame and the transfer of blame are discussed in terms being almost universal in human cultures in connection with anxiety.
Tribute on Erich Fromm
(1996)