Dissertations / Dissertationen
Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die Grundprinzipien der humanistischen Ethik von Erich Fromm darzustellen. Seine Ideen werden mit denen von Sigmund Freud und Karl Marx verknüpft, von denen Fromm oft inspiriert wurde. Im ersten Teil wird auf die Definition der humanistischen Ethik und die Unterscheidung zwischen biophiler und nekrophiler Orientierung eingegangen. Der Kern von Fromms Ethik ist seine Charakterologie. Dabei beschäftigt sich die Arbeit mit produktiver und unproduktiver Orientierung, deren Ausprägungen und in der Folge auch Seinsweisen. Der Hauptteil beschreibt die Frage nach der menschlichen Natur, zusammen mit der Frage, ob der Mensch von Natur aus schlecht oder gut ist. Auch dem Freiheitsbegriff Fromms wird Beachtung geschenkt. Diese Interpretation beschreibt den Prozess der Individualisierung, der zur Freiheit führt, sowie die Mechanismen der Flucht, die sich aus diesem Prozess ergeben. Ein weiteres Thema ist ein Überblick über positive Freiheit und wie man sie erreicht. Im Zusammenhang mit der Freiheit befasst sich das Werk auch mit dem Gewissen. Der letzte Teil widmet sich einem Vergleich ausgewählter ethischer Kategorien von Karl Marx und Erich Fromm. Konkret geht es um eine Gegenüberstellung ihres Menschenbildes und seiner Entfremdung. [Deutsche Kurzfassung der Autorin]
The formation of Erich Fromm’s thought of >Escape from freedom< is based on the inheritance and absorption of Marxism and Freud, on the one hand, Erich Fromm draws on Marxism’s social criticism and alienation theory to analyze the social psychological factors that give rise to escape from freedom, on the other hand, it draws on Freud’s psychoanalysis to analyze the individual psychological factors of escape from freedom, and combines the two. By analyzing the phenomenon of >Escape from freedom<, Erich Fromm points out the spiritual crisis of modern people’s existence and seeks to find ways to construct a sound society and a sound personality. Erich Fromm’s >Escape from freedom< was born out of the Protestant Reformation and the development of capitalism. The Protestant Reformation freed the individual from the constraints of God and the church, but when the individual lost the barriers of the church, he could not feel his place in the secular life. In the course of the development of capitalism, the individual gradually neglects the relation with the other because of the separation of the capitalist division of labor from the other, and the individual pays more attention to his own life, cause the loneliness of the heart. Both contribute to the instability of social organization structure and the unhealthy psychology of the individual, a phenomenon Erich Fromm calls >The duality of freedom<. In Erich Fromm’s view, the duality of freedom is one of the most important reasons for the >Escape from freedom<. Along with the development of capitalism, the idea of >Escape from freedom< took the form of authoritarianism, desire for destruction, and automaton conformity, which Erich Fromm believed had a negative effect on the individual, the psychological factors that gave birth to the Second World War. Since the end of the Second World War, the hidden dangers of Nazism have not been completely eliminated in modern society, and there is a democratic crisis in modern society due to the lack of >Sense of tragedy<. So Erich Fromm addresses the problems of the future by nurturing new people who re-exist and building new societies in which people develop as they are. With the further development of capitalism, industrial civilization does show new features different from the past, and the causes and manifestations of >Escape from freedom< have also changed accordingly. Such social phenomena as the disappearance of >Grand narrative< and >Systematic exploitation< of workers in the industrial civilized society show that the >individualization process< has been reconstructed under the new social situation, >Escape from freedom< is manifested by the further loss of individual identity and hostility from >The other<. Erich Fromm proposed to overcome alienated personality through creative activities, through the form of collective art to cultivate a sound personality, in order to deal with the >Escape from freedom<. By systematically combing Erich Fromm’s theory of >Escape from freedom< and combining it with his Marxist philosophy criticism of Erich Fromm, it can be seen that Erich Fromm’s critique of capitalism does not touch on the Base and political structure of capitalism, and that the basis for judging the soundness of society ignores the factor of productivity, and the >Love< which is used to construct people’s spiritual health has ideality and limitation. Therefore, only on the basis of Marxism and historical materialism, from the perspective of concrete practice, to carry out a critical study of Erich Fromm’s thought of >Escape from freedom<, can draw lessons from Erich Fromm’s thought, for the construction of a harmonious society to provide reference. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 4/2023]
Fromm inherited Marx’s humanistic thought and developed the psychoanalysis, not only do not obey the thought of theoretical connotation and forms, an important connotation in disobedience thought, also proposed shall establish a disobedient socialism and on the basis of the civil liberties cooperation of human society, form the unique ideological system. At the same time, he analyzed the phenomenon of human alienation and the adverse factors hindering the free development of human beings. The epistemological basis of his humanistic thought is the critical theory, criticizing the basic contradictions existing in capitalist society, and holding that people need to have the courage to disobey the orders of power if they want to establish humanistic socialism. On this basis, Fromm emphasizes the core concepts such as the condition of disobedience and the theoretical basis of social character, which provides a theoretical foundation for people to realize real free and comprehensive development. In addition, Fromm criticized the bureaucratic system of capitalism, the problem of old age and the psychological mechanism of escaping freedom. Based on Fromm’s disobedience thought theory origin and realistic background starting, explore the surrounding Fromm’s ideas of disobedience and evaluation, this paper expounds the main contents of Fromm’s disobedience thought, taking Marxist theory as the foundation, the theory of Fromm’s ideas of noncompliance with the value and limitations were analyzed, and thus introduces Fromm’s ideas of disobedience. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 1/2023]
The eminent British novelist and poet Thomas Hardy wrote fifteen novels, four collections of short stories, over 900 poems and two verse dramas throughout his life, leaving a valuable literary heritage for the people of the UK and the world. Jude the Obscure is set in England of 1860 s. It recounts the tragedy of the protagonist countryman Jude Fawley’s struggle for college minister and a stable marriage. It is considered as the first modern novel in the history of British literature. The theme of alienation is a basic theme of modernist literature. It is displayed in Hardy’s novels, especially in >Jude the Obscure<. This thesis adopts the humanistic psychoanalysis of the German-American Jewish social psychologist Erich Fromm to discuss and analyze the representations and reasons for Jude’s alienation in the novel. Jude lived in a stage when capitalism was rapidly developing. The social economy was thriving. The achievements of political democracy were increasingly consolidated, and the cultural cause was flourishing. Influenced by the capitalist civilization, Jude strove to stand firm in metropolises. However, the development of capitalism has two sides. With the continuous progress in economy and the technology, economic features of capitalism such as the quantification and the abstraction were constantly highlighted. The connections between individuals and the connections between people and concrete objects were increasingly vague. Political democracy not only brought people freedom, but also increased people’s sense of loneliness and powerlessness. On the one hand, cultural education encouraged individuals to develop the character of ambition and competition. On the other hand, it compelled individuals to act in accordance with social norms. In such a society, people were in atomic states. They did not get acquainted with each other. The psychological needs of individuals, also the needs of human nature that were based on their existence conditions could not be satisfied. People were only obliged to conform to social norms, which caused the alienation of individuals. Jude’s alienation is the root of his tragedy. Based on the previous research findings, this thesis attempts to interpret the theme of alienation in >Jude the Obscure< via the theory of Erich Fromm’s humanistic psychoanalysis. It hopes to have a better understanding of Hardy’s modernist literary spirit. [www.cnki.net, 1/2023]
>Woman in Love< explores the psychological problems of love with a passion and depth unprecedented in English fiction, and represents the highest achievement of Lawrence’s work. It represents the highest achievement of Lawrence’s work, and thus, along with >The Rainbow<, it became the forerunner of the modern novel. The novel revolves around sheer devastation and renders the inquiry about philosophy, life, love and death from the rushing urge to die over and over again, displaying a profound modernity, searching for eternal values in the essence of life and carnal faith. This thesis uses Erich Fromm’s humanistic psychoanalysis theory, which includes the theory of human needs, authoritarianism, destructiveness, the productive orientation, man’s alienation and man’s living situation and analyzes alienations of characters in >Women in Love<, causes, and proposes positive ways to face it. This thesis consists of three parts: introduction, main body and conclusion. Introduction part includes brief introduction of Lawrence, >Women in Love< and humanistic psychoanalysis theory and literary review of >Women in Love<. The main body of the thesis is divided into three chapters. – The first chapter analyses the alienations of the characters from the psychological description and interactions with others. They no longer pay attention to their own spirit state; appear their destructiveness; alienate themselves and others as objects; lack inner vitality and lose the desire for love and fun of life.– The second chapter analyzes the causes of alienation, including the weakening of humanistic conscience under irrational authority; repression by >social filter<; unbalance of >polarity< connection between the sense of self and that of others), and the gradual erosion of people’s mental state by industrial society.– The third chapter puts forward the possible salvation from human needs. Fromm thinks that alienated people are uncreative people. A truly healthy man is one who loves others, has the sense of identity, develops reason, returns to the nature, and pursues his lifestyle under >the being mode<.– Conclusion part expounds the alienation of characters in >Women in Love<, explores Lawrence’s thinking on human nature through the characteristics of characters in the novel so as to display the artistic charm of >Women in Love< and point out the practical significance of this paper. In addition, this thesis aims to appeal to modern people to understand daily life and to find their own identity and lifestyle by providing a new and meaningful perspective. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 1/2023]
From ancient times to the present, the issue of freedom has always been a hot issue of people’s attention. People’s yearning and pursuit of freedom is an inexhaustible driving force for the progress of human society. In the twentieth century, people found that the development of industry and technology did not bring true freedom and happiness, but made people’s hearts more lonely and spiritually empty, and gradually fell into the contradiction of pursuing freedom and escaping from freedom. Fromm saw the suffering of people. He approached from a microscopic psychological point of view, inheriting and further developing Marx’s free thought on the basis of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. First, Fromm’s inheritance of Marx’s idea of freedom includes: First, both men have taken the actual individual as the subject of freedom, and have set achievable goals of freedom. Second, both men applied the method of integrating theory with practice and unifying history and logic to study the question of freedom. Third, Fromm’s free thought embodies a strong critical and humanitarian spirit, which is consistent with the inner spirit of Marx’s free thought. Secondly, Fromm’s development of Marx’s free ideas includes: First, Marx tried to achieve the free liberation of man through social revolution, while Fromm wanted to achieve the free development of man through psychological revolution. Second, Marx’s theory of labor alienation strongly criticized capitalist society; Fromm put forward a new theory of alienation, which examined the unfree phenomena of capitalist society from a psychological point of view, and usefully supplemented Marx’s free thought. Third, Marx put forward a beautiful vision of the future society, advocating the establishment of a communist society to achieve the free and all-round development of people; Fromm envisioned the establishment of a sound society through political, economic and cultural reforms, which is a supplement to the future free development model of mankind. Fourth, Fromm’s focus on the analysis of human freedom from a personal, microscopic and psychological perspective is an innovation in the perspective of the study of freedom issues. Finally, reflection and evaluation: First, it is pointed out that the defects of Fromm’s inheritance and development of Marx’s free thought, the exaggerated role of psychological factors, the lack of a thorough path to solve the problem, and the unrealistic method of seeking positive freedom. Second, analyze the contemporary values and practical enlightenment of Fromm’s inheritance and development of Marx’s free thought. It provides a new direction for people to pursue freedom and a new perspective for the analysis and solution of social problems; it is necessary to attach importance to the issue of human freedom and development, attach importance to the coordination of the relationship between science and technology and humanities, and pay attention to strengthening the construction of social spiritual civilization. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 1/2023]
In the process of the continuous development of capitalism, the ecological crisis and a series of environmental problems have been caused by the incorrect understanding of the relationship between man and nature. In this context, William Leiss, who has long been concerned about ecological issues, criticized the capitalist society on the basis of inheriting and developing Marxism’s theory of need and Herbert Marcuse’s theory of >True or false need<, with a new perspective to explain the needs of the capitalist system of human needs, the formation of their own ideological characteristics of the needs of the theory. Specifically, William Leiss is mainly concerned with the complexity of human desires, which is an important reason for the formation of the capitalist high consumption society, and the need to be oriented toward the commodity world, which is the root cause of the formation of the capitalist high consumption society, and the thought of human conquering nature is the important foundation of the formation of the capitalist high-consumption society. On this basis, Leiss pays attention to the quality of commodities, pays attention to the multi-dimension and relevance of human needs, and understands the close relationship between human needs and natural environment, familiar with the estimated characteristics of commodities in four aspects of the future human needs to express and meet the concept, and the future human needs to express and meet the way to explore, namely the following four aspects, advocating a general orientation of human needs towards a non-single field of goods, and an open minded self-interest to replace anthropocentrism ideology in an easily viable society, it is suggested that natural entities have the same legal rights as human beings. William Leiss’s theory of needs, while providing a new perspective on the mode of production of capitalism, enriches ecological Marxism and provides a useful reference for the establishment of a correct concept of consumption, but there is also a certain degree of misunderstanding of Marxism’s concept of goods, the lack of a certain global vision, its proposed solution is utopian. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 4/2023]
Joyce Carol Oates (1938 –), one of the most prominent and influential writers in contemporary American literature, is distinguished for her prolificacy in a variety of styles and genres. Oates’s works are unique in exposing the violence and evil in American society. Her works give readers a whole picture of American society, which vividly and graphically reflects the real life from all social backgrounds and presents the reality that lies beneath the surface of American prosperous society. >Them<, published in 1969, is one of Oates’s most important and representative works. The story, spanning almost three decades, presented the real life of the three Wendalls and a panoramic view of American society, which mirrored the living conditions and miserable fate of the lower class. Under the theoretical guidance of Fromm’s theory of social character, the thesis adopts the research method of close reading and makes a profound discussion on the female images in >Them< based on the impact of social reality and family interpersonal relationship on people’s psychology.– The thesis selects three typical female characters in >Them< – Loretta, her daughter Maureen and Nadine as representatives, and analyzes the formation and the expression of their personalities, so as to reveal how female images are distorted in the patriarchal society. Oates portrays the misfortunes and sufferings of women’s lives in the novel. These women, who explore the way of living, are brave enough to resist and break through the shackles of fate. However, they finally lose their self-consciousness under the trouble of social environment and the imbalance of family interpersonal relationship. The three female characters in Oates’s >Them< seek freedom through marriage and money. While they have female consciousness and rebellious spirit, they are always surrounded by violence and male discourse. Therefore, no matter what efforts they make, none of them can get rid of the shackles of patriarchal society. They are doomed to failure. Through the portrayal of women’s living conditions, it arouses readers’ attention and sympathy to women, which reflects Oates’s deep thinking of contemporary women’s issues and the fate of humanity. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 7/2023]
《永远讲不完的故事》是德国作家米切尔·恩德最具代表性的青少年奇幻文学作品之一。作者借以小主人公巴斯蒂安在现实世界的遭遇深刻阐释现代人的普遍精神现状:孤独和内心荒芜,并致力于通过主人公在幻想王国的冒险重建一个新的价值世界来改变现状。为寻找这个新的价值世界,本文首先借用社会心理学家弗洛姆的“>社会性格<理论对文章提及的旧世界以及不同社会模式下的价值进行挖掘,再对生活在这些价值模式下的人进行主体间性分析。通过分析导致巴斯蒂安孤独以及内心荒芜的是一个理性当道的世界,而帮助他从幻想王国重回现实世界的则是>爱<。在这个以爱为名的世界里,爱不仅帮助巴斯蒂安突破孤独的壁垒,而且用其所独有的创造性丰富个体内心世界。除此之外,爱还帮助巴斯蒂安以全新的观点发现世界,重寻自我。因此,>爱<作为新的价值当之无愧,必能引导人类精神重新归家,还给人其人性尊严。
Celeste Ng is one of the most prominent contemporary Chinese American writers. Her debut novel >Everything I Never Told You<, which took six years to complete, has obtained a huge success since it was published. It won the first place of Amazon Book of the Year in 2014, making a sensation in the European and American literary circles. At present, scholars at home and abroad have mostly studied >Everything I Never Told You< from the perspectives of post-colonialism, feminism, cultural conflict, family education and family relations, but few of them have analyzed it from the perspective of alienation. Therefore, this thesis attempts to apply Erich Fromm’s theory of alienation to analyze the alienation theme in >Everything I Never Told You< from three perspectives: the alienation between man and society, the alienation between man and man, and the alienation between man and self, and elaborating on the ways in which each of these family members overcomes alienation to achieve salvation. Through the interpretation of alienation in >Everything I Never Told You<, this thesis aims to reveal the survival dilemma of the interracial families in Celeste Ng’s writings, insinuating the alienated state of modern people, and trying to provide a way for modern people to overcome alienation. When in a state of alienation, people can overcome alienation and achieve salvation by actively facing the dilemma, promoting their self-identity, cultivating the ability to love and building harmonious interpersonal relationships. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 7/2023]