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This text aims at a multi-dimensional reflection on Erich Fromm’s conception of the human being. Starting from Marxist-Freudian sources of the philosopher’s thought, the authors show the fundamental ideas underlying his version of psychoanalysis. Next, Fromm’s view of the human being as a social being is discussed, referring to the concepts of unproductive and productive orientations. Another important dimension of Fromm’s thought that is discussed is the reflection on the nature and functions of the symbolic language of the unconscious, which reveals to the human being both the best and the worst aspects of his or her personality. One of the most famous concepts of the American philosopher is also discussed – the distinction between the being mode and the having mode. The authors draw attention to the value Fromm placed on a life oriented towards the being mode. Finally, they remind us, following Fromm that a human being turns towards himself in his or her dreams, going beyond all the schemes and concepts that bind his mind when he or she is awake. The understanding of oneself that comes from a deep reflection on the content and character of a dream can awaken in a person the recognition of previously unknown dimensions of his or her mind; from now on, he is not merely someone immersed in the reality of everyday life. Crossing the horizon of oneiric imagination, he or she becomes free, in the dream, and she experiences the freedom of being on waking.
[Chinese abstract not available.] Monica Ali is a British Bengali female writer. She was listed as the best young British novelist by Granta, a famous English literary magazine. >Brick Lane<>Brick Lane<>Brick Lane< is a representative work of Ali, whose other notable works include >Alentejo Blue< and >In the Kitchen<. >Brick Lane< tells the story of Nazneen, a Bangladeshi girl who immigrates to Great Britain with her husband. The heroine of the novel, Nazneen, is a traditional and conservative woman at first. After the baptism of immigrant life and the change of her own thinking, she eventually grows into an independent and confident woman. Her husband Chanu is always looking forward to a bright future in Britain, but he is ostracised. In the end, they make different choices about their immigrant lives. In Ali’s work, she describes the intense and difficult life of Bengali immigrants incisively and vividly, but also profoundly reveals the alienation of the relationship among the characters in the novel. This thesis uses Fromm’s alienation theory from three aspects: alienation of human’s self relationship, man’s alienation from others and man’s alienation from society to interpret the alienation of characters in >Brick Lane<, and it further discusses the ways to eliminate alienation through the elaboration of alienation phenomenon.– First of all, this thesis gives a brief description of the author Monica Ali’s life and introduces the plot of the novel >Brick Lane< and the research status of scholars at home and abroad on >Brick Lane<.– Secondly, this thesis introduces the evolution of Fromm’s alienation theory and three main aspects of alienation. In the background of immigrant life, the characters in the novel blindly pursue high status in the western society. And under the influence of traditional ideas, women blindly follow men’s arrangements, lose their self-consciousness and produce self-alienation. In addition, the abnormal relationship between husband and wife also leads to the alienation between people.– Thirdly, immigrants are a special group and they have conflicts with the local social culture. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the analysis of the alienation between man and society and how to eliminate this alienation, so that people can be able to live in an equal and harmonious social environment.– Finally, it is the conclusion of the thesis. This thesis aims to explore how to effectively eliminate alienation when people are in an alienated environment by analyzing the alienation state and redemption methods of characters in >Brick Lane<. At the same time, it reminds us to fully realize our own values and give play to our subjectivity to eliminate alienation. And we should learn to get along with others in a loving way to build a healthy and equal society. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 9/2022]
>The Children Act< (2014) is a novel published by Ian McEwan, one of the most influential contemporary British writers. The novel explores the tensions and conflicts between slave mentality and master mentality, law and religion, emotion and rationality, unfolds the aftermath caused by those conflicts and eventually ends up with the failed salvation. Taking Max Weber’s instrumental rationality and value rationality as the theoretical framework, this thesis draws on Nietzsche’s philosophy of the will to power and love of one’s fate, as well as Erich Fromm’s interpretation of freedom, etc. Through meticulous textual analysis, this thesis exposes the crisis of modernity caused by the unilateral emphasis on instrumental rationality in society at the expense of value rationality and explores the gradual degeneration of modern man into a one-dimensional man in the general environment of utilitarian supremacy and negative freedom. This thesis consists of five parts. The first part introduces McEwan and >The Children Act<, and the literature review and the structure of this thesis are also included. The second part discusses the tensions and conflicts in >The Children Act<, such as the conflicts between slave mentality and master mentality, the irreconcilable conflict between religion and law, and the imbalance between emotion and rationality. The third part is the aftermath of tensions and conflicts in modern society, such as fear of freedom, one-dimensional man and utilitarianism. This part mainly discusses the paradox of freedom and the typical escape mechanism of negative freedom through the spiritual exploration and destruction of the character Adam. The fourth part explores the importance of value rationality using Adam’s resentment and self-destruction and analyzes the essential roles of literature and art in modern society. The fifth part is the conclusion of this thesis. It is fully elucidated in McEwan’s novel that the balance between instrumental rationality and value rationality is indispensable, and the aesthetic experience brought by poetry and music in modern fast-paced life is the possible way to restore the harmonious relationship. [www.cnki.net, 11/2022]
The paper is an attempt at shedding light on the issues related to the dystopian vision of postmodern society metonymically represented by Vado, an imaginary city, in the novel >Un incendio invisible< written by Sara Mesa. This abandoned urban space causes us to reflect on crucial topics in postmodern society, such as incorporation into unknown place, redefinition of the concept of parenthood, liquid and perverse love, social inequalities, abandoned elders, consumption, role of shopping malls and their significance, human alienation, all phenomena that we find in the novel. The city of Vado plays symbolic role in that piece, hence its devastation and ruin show a close connection with the consumer society and the actions of Homo consumericus. We base our analysis on the philosophical and sociological postulates of Gilles Lipovetsky, Zygmunt Bauman, Erich Fromm and anthropological one of Marc Augé, as well as on the proposal of how to read a novel by Javier del Prado Biezma in order to describe the nature of all these mentioned problems and expose the criticism of Homo consumericus concealed in the novel.
私がここで試みるのは,フランクルとフロムとの対話を想像することである.実際には両者は対話を行っていない.しかし,両者は有意義な対話を生む十分な理由を持つ.二人は同時代のユダヤ人であり,反ナチスの勇敢な闘士であり,それぞれの仕方でフロイトの精神分析学から「実存的精神分析」を生みだそうとした思想家であった.二人は,人間が抱く根本的な欲求はリビドーではなく,自分の人生を有意義な人生として実現しようとする「意味への欲求」であると考えた.フランクルは言う.「人生が君に投げかける問いに一つ一つ真摯に応えようとする営為が君に人生の意味を発見させるだろう」と.フロムは言う.「責任感とは,《自分には応答する力がある,だから応答する,応答したい》という自発的意識にほかならない」と.そして,フロムは指摘した.生き生きした豊かな応答関係の再生,これこそ今日の精神的課題である,と.
Ist das Verhalten der gehorsamsbereiten Teilnehmenden des Milgram-Experiments unter dem Begriff des autoritären Charakters nach Erich Fromm zu subsumieren? Um diese These bestätigen beziehungsweise widerlegen zu können, wird als erstes ein allgemeiner Überblick über den Aufbau und Ablauf des besagten Experiments gegeben. Anschließend erfolgt eine Betrachtung der im Buch aufgeführten, gehorsamswilligen Versuchspersonen. Milgram veröffentlichte einige Aufzeichnungen zu den Nachgesprächen, um herauszufinden, wie sich die Funktion des Gehorsamsprozesses zusammensetzt. Daran schließt sich eine Schilderung dessen nach seinem Verständnis an. Im nächsten Kapitel folgt ein Umbruch und der autoritäre Charakter nach Erich Fromm wird typisiert. Nach getaner Vorarbeit findet ein Vergleich der beiden Konzepte und somit die Prüfung der These statt. Letzen Endes werden im Fazit die zentralen Ergebnisse zusammengefasst und durch meine eigene Meinung ergänzt. [Amazon.de]
With the implementation of the >Internet +< action plan and the extensive involvement of intelligence, the consumption frenzy mediated by the Internet has rapidly intensified, and people have changed from traditional offline consumption to online consumption that does not depend on time and space. The consumption concept, consumption pattern and consumption structure of Chinese people are affected to varying degrees. In particular, the group of college students has gradually occupied a very important position in online consumption. In the process of playing a social role, the consumption demand is constantly changing, and online consumption has also been enthusiastically loved by college students. At the same time, the symbolic meaning and consumption characteristics brought by the world of online consumption are gradually infiltrating the consumption concept of college students. She is no longer a simple satisfaction of consumption needs, but has gradually evolved into a kind of consumption that is separated from consumption. The true meaning is the transformation towards consumption alienation such as symbolic consumption, conformity consumption, and advanced consumption. Simply put, college students’ online consumption shows an increase in consumption year by year, in various forms. Most students have irrational consumption behaviors, which will undoubtedly bring a kind of non-positive guidance to college students. In serious cases, it will cause unpredictable harm to the future development of college students. Therefore, for college students who have not yet stepped into the society, it has important practical significance to study the alienation of online consumption of college students. From the perspective of sociology, this research combines Baudrillard’s theory of symbolic consumption and Fromm’s theory of consumption alienation. 850 college students conduct research on Internet consumption. The content of the questionnaire consists of two parts, the first part is the basic situation of the respondents, and the second part is the specific situation of college students’ online consumption. Using SPSS to analyze the survey data and combined with the interview data, the current situation of the alienation of college students’ online consumption is summarized as follows: At present, female college students are more likely to have online consumption alienation than male college students, and junior students are more likely than freshmen, sophomores and seniors. Of students’ online shopping consumption alienation is more serious, compared with other majors, the alienation of online consumption is also more obvious for art college students. The alienation of college students’ online consumption is affected by consumer subjects, consumer groups, and social environment, and relevant analysis is carried out. The influence of consumer subjects is mainly reflected in consumer psychology, venting impulsive consumption, com-paring conspicuous consumption, blindly conforming consumption, and advancing consumption. Finally, the article puts forward some suggestion-s to guide college students to reasonable network fees from three levels: individual, group and society. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 1/2023]
Although scholars from home and abroad have paid much attention to the alienation theme in O’Neill’s >Long Day’s Journey into Night<, their examinations are mainly from one perspective and seldom from multiple aspects. Therefore, in light of Erich Fromm’s analysis of man’s relation to himself, others, and society in his alienation theory, the thesis purports to argue that, by analyzing the causes of alienation in >Long Day’s Journey into Night<, the Tyrones, the main characters in the play, are in the existence of meaninglessness and hopelessness. The thesis includes an introduction, body, and conclusion, and the central part is the body, which is divided into three chapters. With the application of Fromm’s notion of escape mechanism, chapter one inquires why the Tyrones are beset by alienation from themselves and how they attempt to eliminate alienation. Authoritarianism and destructiveness are the causes why the Tyrones run up against alienation from themselves. Precisely, the Tyrones’ dependence on anonymous authorities engenders their idolatrous love for Catholicism and their parents. Meanwhile, pushed by the automaton conformity mechanism, each in the Tyrones is split into real self and pseudo self. In addition, the Tyrone family, with the mechanism of destructiveness, tries to eliminate themselves from suffering from alienation through alcohol or morphine, which are weak and unsustainable, so they cannot eliminate alienation. By analyzing the reasons and attempts, the chapter reveals people’s meaningless existence in that they fail to achieve their self-development.– Chapter two studies why the Tyrones sustain alienation from others in the conjugal, parent-child, and sisterly/brotherly relationships. To be specific, affected by egoism, human relationships, enslaved by personal benefits, are reduced to relations between commodities. Due to inhuman relationships, the Tyrones cannot gain happiness or hope in their relations with others. In chapter three, the reasons for alienation from society suffered by the Tyrones are explored from their production process, consumption activities and past experiences. The family is separately trapped in the past and cannot get rid of the agony from the past, so they become the slave of their past experiences. In the production process, the Tyrones work only for the sake of dollars, thus ceasing to be an active agent in society. In the consumer world, the Tyrone family purchases not for the use-value of commodities but the possession of them. Hence, the Tyrone family, being the object of social activities and the past, finds no way to succeed or step into the future, consequently caught in the existence of hopelessness and meaninglessness.– The conclusion part points out that, in the capitalist society, the Tyrones suffer from alienation from themselves, others, and society, leading to a meaningless and hopeless existence. Through investigating the causes of the alienation in the play, the thesis reveals the living predicament of modern people, which will arouse people to pay attention to their existence and spiritual needs. [www.cnki.net, 11/2022]
본 연구는 오즈 야스지로의 영화가 근대 사회를 비판적으로 재현하고있음을 논증하고자 한다. 오즈 야스지로는 영화 내러티브 상에 근대 사회에 관한 견해를 드러내지 않더라도, 여러 연출 방식을 통해 근대 사회의 내재화된 모순과 고통을 폭로한다. 이를 효과적으로 논증하기 위해 본 연구는 <만춘>과 <맥추>를 주요 분석대상으로 삼고, 근대의 시간을 표현하는연출과 근대인의 부정적인 특성을 묘사하는 연출을 살펴본다.
오즈 야스지로의 영화는 시계와 기차를 활용해 근대의 시간을 성찰한다. 일터에서 집 안까지로 침투하는 시계 소리의 활용은 효율성 극대화를위해 모든 인간 동작을 통제하는 근대의 선분화된 시간 질서를 표현한다. 기차를 연출하는 방식은 목적론적이며 비가역적인 근대적 시간의 특성을가시화한다. 시계 소리나 시곗바늘 각도에 맞춰 움직이는 인물들, 또는 기차 이미지와 함께 등장하는 인물들은 획일적으로 고정된 근대적 삶의 리듬을 내면화한 근대인을 묘사한다.
나아가 오즈 야스지로가 지향하는 배우의 연기 스타일과 인물 간의 시선 연출, 사물과 인물의 배치 등은 에리히 프롬이 근대인의 병리적 성격 구조를 설명하기 위해 고안한 ‘자동인형적 순응’ 개념을 활용해 분석하기 적절하다. 감정을 억제하는 표정과 부자연스러운 몸짓, 인물 간의 동기화된행위 연기는 감정과 생각이 통제되고 타인과 비슷하게 행동함으로써 무력감을 상쇄하는 근대인의 자동인형적 순응을 잘 보여준다. 인물 간의 불화하는 시선은 경쟁과 무관심에 바탕을 둔 근대의 고립된 인간관계를 드러낸다. 또 다중 프레임에 갇히거나 주변 요소에 의해 통제되는 인물 배치는근대화가 표방하는 자유와 개인 주체의 허상을 나타낸다.
한편 오즈 야스지로의 영화는 근대의 특성을 적극적으로 드러내는 동시에 근대적 사고 체계를 거부하는 역설적 연출을 보여주기도 한다. 관객과 영화 사이에 비판적 거리를 두는 비인간적 시선과 과거, 현재, 미래가 혼재하는 비선형적 시간을 나타내는 연출이 대표적이다. 근대의 모순이 잔존하는 현재의 시점에서, 본 연구가 오즈 야스지로 작품의 의미를 유효하게 되새기는 계기를 마련하길 기대한다.
One of the challenges of modern business ethics is to deal with the limitations of the existing model of man in economics and business – the image of homo economicus as a rational selfish being – and search for alternative visions of criteria of success for business entrepreneurs and leaders. Business ethics needs the concept of genuine love. Otherwise, business ethics is reduced to an instrumental endeavor and cannot play the ultimate role it should in a world dominated by big corporations which compete fiercely on a global market. The so-called >the Ethics Management Paradox< is an important warning against the problems with a rational and technocratic conception of ethics. The paper applies Erich Fromm’s concept of >productive love< in business education. To contextualize Fromm’s concept of love, the paper draws on the author’s personal experiences with the course >Ethical action< that has been offered for more than two decades at NHH Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen. The central question is: Can Fromm’s conception of love be applied in a business school setting with the purpose to develop the students’ empathy, to enrich their personal development and their understanding of what a good manager looks like?
Lu Ling was a famous modern writer in the 1940s. In his novels of the 1940s, Lu paid attention to the wanderers oppressed by the war environment from the unique perspective of the wanderers, which led to his novels with a distinct wandering feature. With the transformation of geographical space and spiritual confusion, wandering as a state of existence became a form of literary expression and then wandering writing occurred. This thesis takes L< in order to analyze the presentation form of the wandering writing and explore the original life strength, subjective fighting spirit and free will show in the wandering writing of Lu Ling’s novels in the1940s, thus discovering the causes that bring about Lu Ling’s wandering writing in the 1940s and the literary historical significance of the wandering writing. The thesis is divided into four chapters: The first chapter mainly analyzes the presentation form of the wandering writing in Lu Ling’s novels in the 1940s and uses text analysis to interpret several wandering images in the novels. This chapter shows the dual wandering of the wanderer’s body and mind and the free state of the wanderer’ spirit, showing the wanderer and the writer’s own spiritual meaning of seeking and the pursuit of life value.– The second chapter explores the spiritual connotation of the wandering writing in Lu Ling’s novels in the 1940s, which analyzes the assertive primitive life force embodied in Lu Ling’s novels in the 1940s from Freud’s personality structure theory, explores the subjective fighting spirit contained in the author’s wandering writing from Hu Feng’s realist theory and inquires into the metaphysical problems of the wanderer’s pursuit of freedom and where the wanderer should go from the perspective of the existential theory of Sartre and Fromm’s freedom theory. What the author expresses through the wandering writing is a road to salvation combining individual liberation with national liberation, showing the wanderer’s transcendent exploration for the meaning and value of life in the 1940s.– The third chapter analyzes the causes leading to the wandering writing in Lu Ling’s novels in the 1940s, which explores the opportunities for the wandering writing in Lu Ling’s novels in the 1940s against the background of the wars and his turbulent life experience, and probes into the theoretical origins of his wandering writing from the May 4th literature, modern Hu Feng’s theory, and Western literary thought, and explores Lu Ling’s unique literary thought.– The fourth chapter discusses the literary historical significance of the wandering writing in Lu Ling’s novels in the 1940s. It sorts out the wandering writing of the writers since May Fourth, analyzes the inheritance and development of Lu Ling’s wandering writing through the similarities and differences between these writers and Lu Ling, and summarizes the contribution of the wandering writing in Lu Ling’s novels in the 1940s to the July School and the literary history of the 1940s from the perspective of realism, which is manifested in Lu Ling’s practice and development of Hu Feng’s theory and realist creation. Lu Ling pushed the traditional wandering writing into a new direction of development, and endowed the realistic writing with new theoretical and epochal significance in the inheritance and development, thus ascending to the character of epic. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 11/2022]
Chinese abstract not available.] Fromm is one of the representatives of Frankfurt School. He creatively combined the theories of Marx and Freud to form a unique Marxist theory of Freud. Among the many concepts of his theory, the theory of social character is a very representative innovation. In this paper, Fromm’s social character theory is fully displayed based on its background, meaning characteristics, function significance, and how Fromm uses it to analyze the real society. On this basis, it dialectically analyzes the enlightenment brought by the contribution and deficiency of this theory. [English: www.cnki.net, 9/2022]
Contemporary American writer George Saunders was recognized as >the writer for our time<. He was the winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize for his novel >Lincoln in the Bardo<. Saunders is good at writing short fictions, with >CivilWarLand in Bad Decline<, >Pastoralia<, >In Persuasion Nation< and >Tenth of December< as his representative works. His short story collection >Tenth of December<, published in 2013, keeps Saunders’ terse, humorous and ironic writing style, describing the alienated body under the context of consumer culture. The current research on >Tenth of December< mainly focuses on one to two short stories in the collection. Most of the studies are conducted from the perspective of post-colonialism, feminism, ethics and consumption in cultural studies. Topics of the research cover trauma, ethics, alienation etc. However, body as an important research object has not been discussed yet. In light of it, the paper focuses on the alienated body caused by the consumer society and aims at exploring its nature and its social and cultural roots, as well as the writing intention and the social value of the collection. There are five chapters altogether. The first chapter gives brief introduction to George Saunders and >Tenth of December<. Besides, after sorting out the previous and the current studies on Saunders’ works, this chapter points out the significance of the study and expounds the researching approach.– The second chapter defines >the alienated body< by means of sociology and Erich Fromm’s theory of alienation, and sorts out the phenomenon of alienation in body and its subsequent consequence.– The third chapter, based on Jean Baudrillard’s theory of the consumer society and Max Horkheimer’s critique of instrumental reason, is committed to interpreting the phenomenon of the alienation of the body and exploring the social roots for it, including the re-appropriation of the body by capital, the toiling of body by sign-value consumption as well as the impairment of body by instrumental reason. Based on the former two chapters, the fourth chapter is devoted to exploring the palpable ways out of the dilemma. Individuals whose bodies are alienated should, first of all, become an independent subject to regain subjectivity. Secondly, death also serves as a solution to the alienation of the body. Last but not least, individuals can turn to the power of the humanist communities to realize salvation.– The last chapter is the concluding part, summarizing the main idea of the paper and pointing out the social values embodied in the novella as well. Through textual analysis, a conclusion can be drawn that the alienated body is the product of the consumer society. By revealing the alienation of the body, the story collection aims at speaking for the marginalized people whose bodies have been utilized as an operational capital by revealing the alienation of the body and appeals for the renaissance of humanistic spirit in the consumer society. On top of that, the problem that happened to the body is also associated with the future of humankind. [www.cnki.net, 1/2023]
Zum Geleit
(2022)
Teenagers are in an important period of shaping their outlook on life, values and the world. Without correct ideological guidance, they are very likely to go astray. Under the impact of social transformation, there is a phenomenon of >self-fiction< among some young people. In order to seek recognition from others, they use selective presentation to shape their identity on social media. This is what Fromm mentioned in his thought of Escape from Freedom in order to flee from liberty and loneliness – the automation conformity. Based on his theory, this paper analyzes the phenomenon of >self-fiction< in social networks, and put forward measures from three levels of social culture, school education and personal psychology to guide teenagers to get rid of >self-fiction<and establish correct outlook on life, values and the world. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 1/2023]
In this chapter, we argue that Frankfurt School Critical Theory is in crisis and we offer three potential remedies drawn from the work of Erich Fromm (1900–1980). Juxtaposing a critical analysis of the state of ‘domesticated’ contemporary Critical Theory with a sympathetic reconstruction of Fromm’s work, we identified crucial insights which have been neglected by many of those who work within the ambit of Frankfurt School Critical Theory today. In this endeavour, we seek to build upon and extend the work of Michael J. Thompson, Stathis Kouvelakis, and Nancy Fraser.
Fromm is one of the main representatives of Frankfurt School. He is deeply influenced by Marx and Freud. He combines Marx’s social critical theory with Freud’s psychoanalytic theory to systematically criticize the alienation of human existence. He is known as one of the founders of >psychoanalytic sociology<. Fromm paid special attention to the problem of alienated consumption in his analysis of the phenomenon of alienation in the existence of capitalist society, formed a relatively systematic thought and theory on alienated consumption, launched an ethical criticism on alienated consumption from the standpoint of humanitarianism, and put forward a new humanitarian consumption ethics of >re existence<. Fromm spent his whole life studying the problem of human existence. In the early stage, Fromm focused on psychological analysis from the microstructure of human spiritual entity. After coming into contact with Marx’s thoughts and theories on >alienated labor< and >humanism<, he began to construct his theoretical framework on the alienation of human existence from the macro social and economic structure. Fromm’s alienation of existence mainly includes three alienation phenomena: freedom alienation, love alienation and alienation consumption. Fromm believes that alienated consumption is one of the most serious problems in modern capitalist society. Alienated consumption makes people become greedy consumption machines and brings false freedom and happiness. It not only leads to the materialization of humanity and serious survival crisis, but also leads to the waste of resources and the deterioration of ecological environment. He pointed out that the lack of people’s transcendental needs and the capitalist economic system are the two root causes of alienated consumption. The character of modern society has strengthened the degree of alienation in the field of consumption. In this regard, Fromm proposed that the sublation of alienated consumption can be realized through human psychological reform, the establishment of productive personality and the improvement of social system, but his ideological approach of paying too much attention to human psychological role deviated from Marxist historical materialism, making his theory covered with idealism and Utopia. Facing the morbid western consumer society, Fromm deeply revealed the alienation relationship between man and self, man and society and between man and nature in capitalist society from the three dimensions of individual, society and nature. In order to make people in western society get rid of alienated consumption, correct human nature and save the society, Fromm deeply exposed and criticized the inhumane phenomenon of alienated consumption, and clearly put forward the consumption ethical principle of new humanitarianism of >taking human existence as the highest value pursuit<, as well as the value orientation of >re existence<, healthy and humane consumption mode and the ethical norms that people should bear historical responsibility, so as to realize people’s real freedom and happiness and rebuild the harmony between man and nature. Fromm’s alienated consumption theory embodies the value orientation of pursuing individual freedom, rationality and love, the willingness and yearning for social harmonious order, and the attention to maintaining the balance between freedom and order, rationality and emotion, which leads to consumers’ rational reflection on the moral concept, aesthetic evaluation and love emotion of alienated consumption, and then stimulates the consciousness of alienated consumption and survival crisis under the capitalist system. Fromm’s revelation of the triple distorted ethical relationship caused by alienated consumption is profound, and his criticism of the inhuman consumption view of alienated consumption is reasonable. His alienated consumption theory provides a new path for people in western society to deeply understand the essence of capitalist society, and also provides a reference for the construction of socialist consumption ethics with Chinese characteristics in the new era, It reminds us that we should give consideration to the development of spiritual civilization while vigorously developing material civilization, and pay attention to the real needs of people and the harmonious development of society. Therefore, we should Constructing individual consumption ethics of >re existence<, advocate consumers’ moderate consumption, and rebuild the traditional virtue of thrift. Build a sustainable social consumption ethics, advocate the concept of green consumption in the society, guide sustainable consumption, and rebuild the harmony between man and nature. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 1/2023]
본 연구의 목적은 힘의 변형 관점에서 집단상담 이론을 재이론화하고, 이에 근거하여 청소년의 폭력성이 집단상담 과정을 통해 변형된 사례를 분석하는 것이다. 연구자는 본 연구를 통해 집단상담이 힘의 변형 자원이 있음을 논증하고, 힘의 변형 관점에서 권위주의가 뿌리 깊은 한국의 목회 영역에 유의미한 실천적 적용을 모색하고자 하였다. 힘은 관계의 맥락 안에서 권위적인지, 혹은 상호적인지 정의되어질 수 있다. 본 연구에서의 힘의 변형이란, 대인관계과정에서 권위적인 힘이 상호적인 힘으로 변형되는 것을 의미한다. 본 연구를진행하기 위해 연구자는 문헌연구와 사례연구를 병행하였다. 본 연구는 집단상담의 이론과 과정을 힘의 변형 관점에서 다시 구조화했다는 점에서 그 주요한 성과가 있다. 또한 집단상담의 힘의 변형 자원을 신학적으로 조명하여 오늘날 한국교회의 리더십 유형과 공동체의 관계성 유형을 모색하였다는 점에서도 의의가 있다.
>To hear with eyes< is a Shakespearean expression used by Masud Khan as the title of his article written in 1971. In this text, Khan recounts the clinical case of a young model who told him certain things, but in whose body, lying on the couch, he saw other things. Khan’s article is almost 50 years old, and since then the clinical management of bodily issues and subjective dissociations has become more pressing. We have more and more patients who do not use the couch and who seek our gaze. If Khan privileged the analyst’s gaze on the patient’s body, we can now broaden this horizon, adding layers to the relationship between body expressions, gestures, and rhythms in the clinical encounter. Non-neurotic patients are very sensitive to this; in the analyst’s interventions, what patients perceive is the gesture, rather than the content of what is said. In the same way, we must be attentive to the rhythm of each subject during the sessions of analysis. The more traumatic the subjective process is, the more important are the perception of and respect for the patient’s rhythm, as well as the possibility of being able to get in synch with their rhythm.
The article focuses on the forms of destructiveness based on Erich Fromm’s theory, especially the concept of playful and vengeful violence, necrophilia, narcissism and symbolic fixation with the mother. The representation of the necrophilic orientation in some resonant personalities, the types of benign, malignant and social narcissism are concepts taken from Erich Fromm and clarified in the theoretical course of the article. The author applies the concept of destructiveness through the prism of symbolic fixation towards the mother, based on the novel by the Norwegian writer Anne Holt >Death of the Demon<. The morbid aspects of the child′s development and the investigation of the crime are the key dimensions through which Anna Holt′s novel can be read and interpreted.
Recent scholarship has mapped the dynamic between humiliation and violence, including the role of trauma and self-esteem. While existing research has mostly focused on individuals, there is a strong case for applying this framework to the macrosocial level. Taking an interdisciplinary approach that combines psychoanalysis, cultural anthropology, and political sociology, this paper carries out a step-by-step application of Gilligan’s shame/violence theory to the case of Greece, focusing on the post-2009 era known as >the Crisis.< This paper outlines the root causes of the shame/violence dynamic in Greece, with reference to communitarian moral codes and honor crimes, as well as political divisions, unresolved trauma, and shame/violence spirals originating in the mid-twentieth century. It then examines the role of humiliation during the current economic crisis, as well as the surge of political aggression. The application of Gilligan’s theory provides us with a compelling interpretation of civic culture in contemporary Greece, throwing light on patterns of collective self-harming behavior (>suicide by cop>) – as both a possible result of subjective humiliation, and a means of seeking pity and attention. The paper also identifies the existence of accumulated shame, which could lead to outbreaks of political extremism.
Der Soziologe und Psychoanalytiker Erich Fromm (1900–1980) entwickelte eine sozialpsychologische Methode, deren besondere Bedeutung darin liegt, dass sie auch unbewusste Motivationen und Antriebskräfte erfasst. Auf diese Weise lassen sich auch Strebungen und Verhaltensweisen sowie öffentliche Wertvorstellungen und Denkmuster ermitteln, die in einer humanistischen Perspektive als gesellschaftlich erzeugte psychische >Defekte< anzusehen sind. Mit seinem Konzept des Sozialcharakters lässt sich das, was in einer bestimmten Gesellschaft als >normal< und >vernünftig< empfunden wird, als mögliche >Pathologie der Normalität< hinterfragen. Wie aktuell sein Ansatz für eine Kritische Psychologie ist, wird am derzeit dominanten Sozialcharakter verdeutlicht.
Foreword
(2022)
Erich Fromm
(2022)
Erich Fromm hat vor etwa 90 Jahren eine Theorie undMethode der Analytischen Sozialpsychologie entwickelt und in der Folgezeit zur Anwendung gebracht. Die Analytische Sozialpsychologie ist es wert, in Erinnerung gerufen und auf ihre Relevanz für die Gegenwart befragt zu werden. Nach einer Einleitung werden in mehreren Abschnitten Fromms Theorie und Methode der Analytischen Sozialpsychologie detailliert nachgezeichnet. In einem weiteren Abschnitt werden Fromms humanbiologische Begründungen seiner Sozialpsychoanalyse skizziert. Deren Anwendung und Relevanz werden daran anschließend anhand der Phänotypik und Psychodynamik von Sozialcharakter-Orientierungen illustriert. Abschließend wird die Frage von Fromms Aktualität erneut aufgegriffen.
Psychoanalysis in the shadow of fascism and genocide: Erich Fromm and the interpersonal tradition
(2022)
The aim of this paper is to give the reader an overview of several theoretical, empirical, and clinical features of survivor guilt, and to integrate recent contributions of psychodynamic theory and, in particular, of control-mastery theory into the understanding of the concept alongside the latest findings in social psychology about it. After introducing the concept of survivor guilt and its origins in clinical observations on the consequences of having survived severe traumas (e.g., internment in concentration camps), we will discuss the findings in social psychology on the concept of survivor guilt in everyday social interactions, which is based on a conception that does not connect it strictly to severe traumas. We will then focus our attention on clinical observations and empirical research studies about survivor guilt, discussing the hypotheses developed by several control-mastery theorists about its role in psychopathology. Finally, we will illustrate some manifestations of survivor guilt with a brief clinical vignette.
The short story entitled >Mu'tamar Al-Hub< by Taufiq Al-Hakim is a short story that contains the theme of love. The short story is interesting because it contains different views on the understanding of love. This study examines the psychology of the character in the short story which focuses on the characteristics of each character's love. The method used in this study is a qualitative method with the psychoanalytic theory of Erich Fromm. In this study, researchers found two divisions of the psychology of love in the short story character >Mu'tamar Al-Hub<. That is, found four forms of essential elements of love and five forms of objects of love. First, the researcher found the psychology of journalist characters who showed an attitude of concern, and responsibility and included in the type of erotic love. Second, the psychology of the musician character shows responsibility and the type of love in the form of motherly love. Third, the psychology of the poet’s character shows the respect and love included in the category of brotherly love and erotic love. Fourth, the psychology of the female character shows that there are aspects of her knowledge and love character in the form of self-love.
Erich Fromm is a famous Western Marxist, and a key member of Frankfurt School. He constructed his own humanistic ideology, with exploring the living dilemma of modern people, criticizing the morbid society and yearning for a sound society in the future as the goal, calling for human subjectivity as the object of study and the thread that runs through all theories, analysis of phenotypic analysis mechanism and character structure of modern alienation as the breakthrough point. There is a profound brand of the times and a complex theoretical background during the formation of humanistic thought. The brutality of the two world wars trampling on human nature, the rapid recovery of western economies lead to the war aggravating the alienation of human nature and generalizing the phenotypic analysis problems, and the influence of religion and family all prompted him to devote himself to realizing the return of >human< in academic and practice. The recommendation and application of Marx’s theory of labor alienation by Frankfurt School and the exploration and revelation of human nature by psychoanalysis theory have prepared the prerequisite conditions for the construction of his cultural view of human nature and humanitarian ideological system. >Alienation< – the core concept of Marx’s theory, Freud’s theory of the structure of character, the cultural undertones of western liberalism and humanism, the social critical theory of the Frankfurt School. All of these above, are the theoretical origin of its ideological system. Starting from the logic of modern man, Fromm takes Marx’s theory of labor alienation and Freud’s >synthesis< of psychoanalysis as the research tool, comprehensively and systematically expounds his own humanitarian thoughts. First, freedom is a matter of quantity as well as quality. Through analyzing the phenotypic analysis mechanism and character structure of human alienation, he pointed out that modern people have two sides of >gain< and >escape< in their treatment of freedom which root in man’s living circumstance and individual experience. Second, alienation is a universal objective existence. He defined alienation as an emotional and psychological subjective experience. He believes that alienation of capitalist society is constantly deepening and universalizing, mainly in the aspects of human nature, social character, social psychology and emotion. Third, love is a force that overcomes alienation. Love is an art and an ability that can be learned by practice. The ability to love is the way and method to overcome alienation, but the acquisition of the ability to love depends on the influence of the society on the personality of the individual. Modern westerners are cogs in machines that cannot love, so the ability to love is gradually being lost. Fourth, the hallmark of a healthy society is sharing. Through the psychoanalysis of human beings, Fromm concluded that western society is morbid and unsound. He proposed to reform the society from three aspects – economy, politics and culture, and expected to build a >humanistic public ownership< of a sound society with shared work, shared experience and common management. He believed that this is the goal of all the modern people. Fromm’s humanistic thought is unique. In the construction of the humanistic ideological system, he took a road of focusing on the micro, the macro and the reality. Its main characteristics are the >comprehensive< innovation in the ideological system, and the call for the subjectivity of human beings in the purpose and method. The most notable feature is the profound analysis and humanistic criticism of western capitalism based on reality. Fromm’s humanistic thought has irreplaceable academic status and application value in the western cultural tradition and the theoretical pedigree of Western Marxism. It has enlightenment and reference function in restraining the phenotypic analysis mechanism and social character of human alienation and overcoming the >possession-oriented ways of existence< to a certain extent. But supplementing Marxism with the subjectively defined theory of human nature, attributing the pathology of modern and contemporary capitalist societies to problems of human nature, defining the transformation of western society as the transformation of human nature, using >love< and >character construction< as tools to transform reality and build a sound society all obviously have theoretical prejudice and character of Utopia. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 1/2023]
This thesis adopts Erich Fromm’s theory of escape from freedom and takes the economic background of the 20th century America into consideration to analyze the characters in >Death of a Salesman< and thus to find out the psychological motivations behind the characters’ behavior as well as a reasonable explanation of their destiny from the perspective of freedom. Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman, enjoys a certain degree of freedom and the opportunity to choose according to their own will, only to give up the best choice to himself and the family. Individuals like Willy are in pursuit of freedom, but as they hold it, though in a liberated sense, they sometimes abandon it. The secret behind the contradiction is definitely worth exploring. According to Fromm’s psychoanalytical theory, free choice always brings about a frustrating sense of powerlessness and anxiety, which fosters fear in people’s heart. In order to alleviate or eliminate the fear, people rashly choose to give up part of their freedom in exchange for a sense of certainty and security. As they repeat the escape from time to time, they completely lose their control of freedom in the long run and thus become slaves to life. This paper borrows Fromm’s theory of >escape from freedom< which features primary bonds, alienation, and negative freedom, and selects Willy Loman as the object of analysis to explore the driving force behind the behavior of escaping from freedom from a psychoanalysis level. The primary bond and alienation parts mainly explain why Willy seems to be haunted with negative emotions when facing freedom, and the negative freedom part analyzes why he conducts so many negative behaviors, including suicide, when dealing with challenging situations. Through exploring the psychological motivation for escaping from freedom, this paper attempts to provide corresponding solutions to help people make rational choices. Here, the paper also turns to Fromm’s another psychoanalytical work >The Sane Society< which illustrates the rational individual psychology, interpersonal relationship and social structure that a sane society is supposed to have, in order to reveal the most significant factors that people should take into consideration when facing the freedom to choose. >Death of a Salesman< is so influential a work. The tragedy it contains triggers strong emotional resonance among the audience as readers can often find their own features in the characters. With Fromm’s theory of >escape from freedom< as the theoretical tool, the paper aims to provide a diagnosis for people who share the same trouble with Willy Loman, thereby helping them to gain a better understanding of what leads to their dilemma and accordingly, what the potential solution is. [www.cnki.net, 1/2023]
[Chinese abstract not available] The thoughts of world peace is the mainstream thoughts in Fromm’s humanistic philosophy, Fromm believes: >The ideal of a world of a great harmony is the common aspiration of human, and it is also the common goal that human beings should try their best to achieve.< Fromm integrated Freud’s and Marx’s theories and revealed that the first inherent potential in human nature, namely creativity, reason and love, is the key to realize a sound human society, and is also the source of strength for human beings to realize a peaceful world without war. There is still the second potential in human nature, which is to pursue the satisfaction of human beings’ natural desires. Under the unsound social environment, the second potential of human beings may develop morbidly under the joint action of various factors that violate human nature, and then become the fuse of war and conflict. In Fromm’s theory, human nature is consistent with human nature. Human nature is contradictory, and human nature is not fixed and rigid. Contradictions contained in human nature directly determine human behavior and its realistic results, and then determine whether the human world will achieve peace or be deeply mired in war. Because of the consistent relationship between the contradiction contained in human nature and the process of human practice, the positive change of human practice, the way of practice and the return of human nature to the first potential are the powers to reshape sound human nature and create a peaceful new world. Therefore, human nature is plastic, and there is hope for world peace.– By analyzing the socialized and historically evolving human nature, Fromm reveals that social development is not only determined by economic factors, but also influenced by social character and social unconsciousness. Social unconsciousness is the repressed part of society that is incompatible with the mainstream consciousness of society. Through the screening of social filters, That is to say, after being filtered by the social mainstream consciousness system composed of language, logic and social taboos, the unconscious commonality contained in the social unconscious and meeting the corresponding screening standards can rise to the social consciousness level and become a component of the social mainstream consciousness. At the same time, the social unconscious that does not meet the relevant screening standards does not disappear, but penetrates the development and deepening of labor and social exchanges with the participation of all members. Universal penetration and integration into the subconscious activities of all members, and in the unconscious practice of most members, it exerts a subtle influence on the thoughts and behaviors of all members, and has made an influence on the future trend of the society as a whole.– In addition, there is a close relationship between the realization of world peace and human behavior. Human behavior is the search, practice and creation of survival significance under the specific historical and production conditions of society. Fromm divides human behavior into rational behavior and irrational behavior according to the beneficial and unhelpful cooperation between human behavior and society. Irrational behavior is the alienation behavior polluted by inhuman factors, resulting in the generalization and pathological performance of social members. Rational behavior is a normal behavior conforming to the first potential of human nature. After being refined by the common practice of society, individual behavior gradually condenses into the general behavior of society around the humanity with the characteristics of the times and nationalities. Society itself exists as the foundation of the human world, and the soundness and morbidity of the general behavior of society directly determine the common destiny of the world. Therefore, the realization of world peace should not be limited to the perfection of human nature, but the social unconsciousness and the soundness of human behavior also play an important role. Social character also has an important influence on the development of society and the realization of positive peace. Fromm put forward the concept of social character in his book Escape from Freedom, and discussed the social character and character structure hidden behind mass behavior. Later, in his monograph >The Sane Society<, he studied the dialectical relationship among the three factors of >economic basis, social character thoughts and ideal<, revealing that social character is a dynamic evolution process of human nature. Social character plays both positive and negative roles in the economic foundation of society and the actual behavior of human beings. The overall practice of human beings determines the sound level of social character, and the soundness of social character also has a great impact on the overall practice of human beings and its practical results. Therefore, the realization of human positive peace can not be separated from the assistance of positive social character, which reflects human nature and plays a great role in the development of social history and the realization of human peace in reality.– The discussion of world peace is the peak of Erich Fromm’s philosophical development, and it is also the main logical clue to implement Fromm’s humanistic philosophy. One of the notable signs is that Fromm opposes US imperialism, Nazism and hegemonism and advocates world peace. Fromm wrote: >The future world should be a one-size-fits-all world.< […], that is to say, the future world is a borderless human union that has permanently eliminated the wars among countries, political parties, races, groups and organizations. Unfortunately, no matter at home or abroad, there are very few works that discover this theme and study it, and there are great limitations. However, from the two aspects of history and reality derived from human development, it is not difficult to find that although the world situation has been in turmoil for a long time, the pursuit of world peace by human beings is still the general trend. The disasters that occurred in the past and are happening have proved that the corresponding problems can be solved as desired by no country or a few countries alone. The world itself is a community of destiny, so human beings need to unite and tide over difficulties together. Fromm’s thoughts of world peace occupies an important position in his research in many fields. This thesis uses >the subject of world peace – the behavior of the subject – the society connected with the subject< as a dynamic logical framework, systematically reconstructs Fromm’s thoughts of world peace, and provides a new perspective for studying Fromm’s thoughts. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 2/2024]
The postmodern Querfront
(2022)
In this paper, I explore the nature of Paul Williams’ portrayal of the psychological growth of the narrator in The fifth principle and Scum. Growing up in an impoverished environment, both as a child and as an adolescent, the narrator experienced forms of neglect and abuse, which, together with the fantasies that he created, left him traumatized and close to being totally shattered. This is conveyed quite graphically through the use of various stylistic devices that include shifts in the method of narration in both books as well as the innovative use of language in Scum. Through extensive introspection as well as the help provided by others, the narrator suggests that he became sufficiently psychologically independent as well as capable of feeling connected to others in sustained ways.
In this paper, I explore the nature of Paul Williams’ portrayal of the psychological growth of the narrator in The fifth principle and Scum. Growing up in an impoverished environment, both as a child and as an adolescent, the narrator experienced forms of neglect and abuse, which, together with the fantasies that he created, left him traumatized and close to being totally shattered. This is conveyed quite graphically through the use of various stylistic devices that include shifts in the method of narration in both books as well as the innovative use of language in Scum. Through extensive introspection as well as the help provided by others, the narrator suggests that he became sufficiently psychologically independent as well as capable of feeling connected to others in sustained ways.
[Chinese abstract not available] Love is an inescapable issue in the development of human society, and love is not simply a matter of >sexual attraction< the definition of the concept and the true meaning behind it need to be further explored. Marx and Engels affirmed the importance of sex as the biological basis of love from the perspective of human physiology. On this basis, they emphasise that love is a social relationship unique to human society and should be a strong, solid and deep feeling between people of the opposite sex based on mutual admiration and a desire to be with each other for life. Marx and Engels were not crystallised by gender relations in the capitalist era and saw the illusion of ’love first’ created by capitalist private ownership. The aim of this paper is to analyse Marx and Engels’ critique of recent Western ideas on love and to explore the model of love envisaged in the society of the future, which undoubtedly adds to their thinking. At present, there are relatively few studies on Marx’s and Engels’ ideas on love in the academy, so this paper is a critical entry point to explore Marx’s and Engels’ ideas on love.– The first chapter starts from the four dimensions of sex, reason, marriage and religion to clarify the development of modern Western love thought, while laying the foundation for Marx and Engels to carry out their love critique. The analysis of the main types of classical Western love thought in Chapter 1 shows that these views of love do not delve into love as a uniquely human social relationship, and therefore do not properly grasp its essential properties. Marx and Engels found that love has both natural and social properties, and used this as a basis for their fierce critique of Western love thought. Love, as an indispensable social relationship, has been inextricably linked to marriage, politics and art since the dawn of humanity. It is through four aspects that Marx and Engels also critique the modern Western idea of love, thus affirming the role of love in human society. Marx and Engels saw the phenomenon of false love and alienation as a real consequence of capitalist private ownership, and that the purification of love could only be achieved when private ownership disappeared and productivity became highly developed. And the conditions for purification can only be realised in a communist society. Although Marx and Engels’ theoretical elaboration of love did not result in a systematic text, it still had an impact on Marxists in the West. Fromm, Marcuse and Badiou, three Western Marxist scholars, explored the path from love to human emancipation as an inheritance and development of Marx and Engels’ critical thinking on love. Although the two great men were in different times from us, their critique of love in the modern West is very much a modern reference. Capitalist private ownership is a constant danger to the relationship between the sexes today, and it is only when private ownership is extinguished and society is freed from the shackles of economic factors that true love can be achieved. At the same time, Marx and Engels’ critique of the concept of love in capitalist society is a positive guide to the construction of socialist love values in China and deserves our profound reflection. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 2/2014]
Erich Fromm criticizes the common notion that >obedience is a virtue< and >disobedience is a vice.< To prove his point, he argues that obedience can be utilized by any unjust and inhumane authority for their evil ends. Not only that, but he also says that the history of Western civilization is replete with stories of the struggle for the affirmation of the human person as an individual entity through disobedience. Thus, Fromm argues that disobedience can be utilized for the liberation and evolution of the human person. Therefore, he affirms that disobedience can be considered a virtue.
Tibor Scitovsky’s >The Joyless Economy< (1976) is now regarded as a landmark publication in the combined fields of economics and psychology, with standard accounts of Scitovsky’s ideas emphasizing the influence of 1960s motivational psychology literature. While this encounter is all-important, Scitovsky’s ideas must at the same time be read in the context of the evolution of his critique of twentieth-century mass society. The present paper presents that critique and demonstrates its fundamental importance for Scitovsky’s diagnosis of an economy he termed >joyless<. Drawing upon his >Memoirs<, we show how Scitovsky’s ideas were initially shaped by the culture/aesthetics of his early years in Budapest, followed by his experiences of rising totalitarianism in interwar Europe, and further affected by his move to the consumption society of postwar America. The way he engaged with the writings of influential contemporary cultural commentators, including André Gide, Erich Fromm, Bertrand de Jouvenel, Lewis Mumford, and Bernard Rudofsky, was incisive. Close scrutiny also reveals resonances between Scitovsky’s cultural concerns and those of some of the Bloomsbury Group.
Ungleichheit ist Unfreiheit - über Ueli Mäder. Lobrede zur Verleihung des Erich-Fromm-Preises
(2022)
All of Louise Erdrich’s novels involve elements of religion, and almost every character, more or less, has something to do with religion. A multitude of impressive images of priests figure prominently in all her novels, among which >The Plague of Doves< (2008), >The Round House< (2012), >The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse< (2001) stand out. In each of these novels, pseudo-Father Cassidy, quasi-Father Travis, syncretic Father Damien constitute three typical images of priests. These characters not only reflect collision and fusion between Catholicism and Ojibwe spirituality to a certain extent, but also embody Louise Erdrich’s complex emotional attitude and humanistic religious view. In The Plague of Doves, Erdrich portrays a false Catholic priest Cassidy, characterized by alcoholism, rapacity, self-importance, impudence, inhumanity and absurdity. The appearance of Cassidy’s image is a sharp spear thrown by Erdrich at the Catholic church that imprisons and destroys human nature, and is also the reflection of her humanitarianism and stance against the church’s notion of sin. In >The Round House<, a marine-turned-Catholic priest Father Travis is no more than a spokesman of Catholicism and white interest groups. Under the guise of Catholicism, he has been eradicating American Indian culture, assimilating indigenous people, paralyzing their consciousness and plundering their resources. >The Round House< reveals the alienation and unease of the Ojibwe in the face of Father Travis’ religious colonization. However, in >The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse<, the author recounts Father Damien’s 87 years of missionary experience on the Little No Horse reservation. In the process of spreading Catholicism to the Ojibwe, Father Damien, disguised as a man by the farmer’s widow Agnes De Witt (formerly Sister Cecilia), is influenced by Ojibwe Shamanism and, as a result, merges it with Catholicism. This fusion realizes the equal negotiation between the >superior< Catholicism and >inferior< Shamanism, and also reflects the ability of the endangered Ojibwe spirituality to hijack Catholicism from within. In the process, Father Damian is changed from a cultural conqueror to a recipient and advocate of the inferior Ojibwe civilization, becoming its loyal friend. The two religious civilizations that have been in conflict and struggle are balanced within Father Damien’s perspective. Here, the author does not advocate an either-or religious posture, but the coexistence of the two religions to jointly construct the religious identity and psychology of the natives. This thesis, based on Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach’s >religion of love< and Erich Fromm’s humanistic religious thought, as well as post-colonial theory, expounds on the author’s humanitarian religious view from the perspective of the above-mentioned three priests. Comparing and contrasting these three typical priest images together, the thesis attempts to reach the conclusion that neither pseudo-Father Cassidy, with his subversion of classic priest images, nor quasi-Father Travis, who represents Erdrich’s negation of these orthodox images, is Louise Erdrich’s idealized priest image but rather the syncretic Father Damien instead, regardless of her female identity, hybridized religions and secularity, whose humanitarian trait brings forth a feeling of well-being in the Ojibwe people. [www.cnki.net, 1/2023]
In a comparative study of texts selected for their insights and occasional blind spots regarding fascist experiments of the past 100 years, Delogu examines fascism’s exploitation of fear (of change, loss, and death), disruption, and extreme inequality. The book offers an accessible and persuasive argument linking fascist authoritarianism, also called “right-wing populism,” to certain underlying conditions, such as a rise in us-versus-them thinking; distrust or simple apathy regarding democratic institutions, norms, and results; the vulnerabilities that result from extreme inequality (economic, social, racial); and addictions and codependency. Stressful events, such as a pandemic, an environmental disaster, or deep recession aggravate these harmful factors and make the fascist temptation, including the use of violence, almost irresistible. Delogu’s distinctive examination of texts that plumb the unconscious reveal linkages between actions and unavowable motives that purely historical and theoretical studies of fascism leave out.
O presente artigo tem por objeto o tratamento dado por Erich Fromm e Max Horkheimer ao fenômeno da integração social do proletariado. Além dos textos de ambos os autores, o artigo recorre às pesquisas empíricas conduzidas no início da década de 1930, no âmbito do Instituto de Pesquisa Social de Frankfurt. Mais especificamente, é analisada a pesquisa sobre a >estrutura de caráter< de trabalhadores alemães, coordenada por Erich Fromm, sendo também considerados os principais resultados das pesquisas que tinham por objeto as mudanças na sexualidade e na estrutura de autoridade da família europeia da época. Mostra-se como Horkheimer recorreu a conceitos centrais do pensamento de Marx ao examinar os temas dessas pesquisas, resultando em uma perspectiva capaz de apreender as mudanças sociais em curso.
The Pathology of Normalcy and Consensual Validation: Thinking Beyond Neoliberalism with Erich Fromm
(2022)
Think of the ease in which one can acquire food and clothing today. Consider the ubiquitous availability of machines that save us hours of boring labour. For the average person in the global core, it is obvious: the material standard of living has increased exponentially since the industrial-capitalist revolution. Although we may celebrate these achievements it is also clear that such rampant capitalist development has created many horrific ‘negative externalities’.
De acordo com o psicanalista alemão Erich Fromm (1900-1980), a espiritualidade deve ser entendida como uma atitude que visa à ruptura do egocentrismo, a um sair de si mesmo pautado pelo amor à vida, imbuído de sentido existencial e defensor da valorização da diversidade humana. No que tange à educação, Fromm pontua que o ato de ensinar é capaz de despertar as potencialidades do ser do educando, potencialidades essas que podem estar adormecidas em seu interior e que necessitam de alguns estímulos para que sejam despertadas. Neste viés, este artigo objetiva explicitar e analisar aspectos de interface entre a espiritualidade humanista e a educação a partir dos escritos de Erich Fromm, salientando que o processo educacional também deve abarcar a dimensão espiritual do indivíduo. Como recurso metodológico, propomos realizar uma análise teórico-bibliográfica das seguintes obras: Análise do homem, O coração do homem, Rever Freud e Ter ou ser?, todas de autoria de Erich Fromm, além de recorrer a trabalhos de comentadores do psicanalista humanista. Por fim, pretendemos evidenciar que o cultivo da sabedoria interior é um aspecto essencial para o aperfeiçoamento do ser do educando, à medida que promove o despertar da consciência biófila.
While Kingsley Amis‘s novel >Lucky Jim< shows the anger and disillusionment of 1950s British youth, it also contains Amis’s still-positive attitude towards British young people like himself who are in a predicament. Focusing on the two core concepts of Fromm’s theory of freedom, negative freedom and positive freedom, written within the same historical period as Kingsley Amis’s >Lucky Jim< (1954) and Jim’s transcendence from negative freedom to positive freedom as the research object, this thesis deeply interprets the disillusionment, awakening and self-reconstruction in Jim’s journey to true freedom.– The study found that: the social culture, hypocritical academic environment, weird interpersonal relationships, and the fettered and immature personality of Jim himself all induce him to pursue a negative freedom through by escaping responsibility and rebelling against middle-class culture and social traditions traditionally enjoyed by postwar capitalist society. However, these radical actions, which Fromm called >negative freedom<, did not bring Jim spiritual relief, but brought him alienation and disillusion. The alienation and disillusion brought about by Jim’s pursuit of negative freedom, which makes Jim wake up from his negative freedom and seek a new way of freedom. Ultimately, Jim’s pursuing for freedom transforms from negative freedom to positive freedom through spontaneous love for Christine and a series of creative activities to regain his true self and a sense of belonging. This self-reconstruction gives Jim the courage to face his destiny and choose to reconnect with the outside world and enjoy healthy human relationships. And with the favorable changes of the external political, economic and cultural environment, Jim finally frees himself from the sufferings of his negative freedom, and finds the true path to positive freedom. This study attempts to show that neither avoiding responsibility nor seeking one’s psychological escape through rebellion can solve the survival dilemma suffered under the influence of negative freedom. And only when we can live and love spontaneously in a positive way, and actively establish a close connection with the world, can we get out of the predicament and obtain true freedom. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 5/2023]
The Social Unconscious: The Psychoanalytic Dimension of Fromm’s Cultural View [社会无意识:弗洛姆文化观的精神分析维度]
(2022)
[Chinese abstract not available.] The social unconscious is a core concept in Erich Fromm’s cultural view. By comparing the social unconscious with Freud’s the unconscious, Marx’s social consciousness and Jung’s collective unconscious respectively, this article aims to study the psychoanalytic dimension of Fromm’s cultural view. For Fromm, the social unconscious is the product of cultural power suppression; cultural power shapes the spiritual space formed by consciousness and the unconscious; the social unconscious exists in societies dominated by cultural power. This shows that from the microscopic perspective of psychoanalysis, Fromm has gained an insight into the suppression and manipulation of the social unconscious by the ubiquitous cultural power. This insight not only deepens the theory of cultural studies, but also enriches and develops the related theoretical connotations of Marxist theory. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 9/2022]
Critical Theory has traditionally been interested in engaging classical psychoanalysis rather than addressing postclassical thought. For the first time, this volume brings Critical Theory into proper dialogue with modern developments in the psychoanalytic movement and covers a broad range of topics in contemporary society that revisit the Frankfurt School and its contributions to psychoanalytic social critique. Theoretical, clinical, and applied investigations in social pathology are explored in relation to new directions in critical cultural discourse from a variety of psychoanalytic perspectives. In this volume, internationally acclaimed social political theorists, philosophers, psychoanalysts, cultural critics, and scholars of humanities examine contemporary issues in social critique that address a myriad of topics.
Shakespeare’s great play King Lear traces the downfall of a man who retired without sufficient insight into the impact of his decision. The author uses the play to frame questions about the course of her own retirement from psychoanalytic practice, on May 31, 2019. How might the decision to retire change the analyst’s sense of her own identity, and her patients’ perceptions of who she really is? What are some of the challenges of living in retirement, without the structure and purpose an analytic practice provides?
Vorwort
(2022)