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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]