Erich Fromm.pptx

Systems and Theories

1. Erich Fromm

2. Overview of Fromm’s Humanistic Psychoanalysis  Erich Fromm’s humanistic psychoanalysis looks at people from many perspectives, including psychology, history, and anthropology. Although Fromm was influenced by both Freud and Horney, his theory is much broader than Horney’s and much more socially oriented than Freud’s.

3. Biography of Erich Fromm  Erich Fromm was born in Germany, in 1900, the only child of orthodox Jewish parents. His humanistic philosophy grew out of an early reading of the biblical prophets and an association with several Talmudic scholars. A thoughtful young man, Fromm was also influenced by the writings of Freud and Marx, as well as by socialist ideology. In New York, where he also resumed his friendship with Karen Horney, whom he had known in Germany. Much of his later years were spent in Mexico and Switzerland,

4. Fromm’s Basic Assumptions        Fromm assumed that human personality can only be understood in the light of history. He believed that humans have been torn away from their prehistoric union with nature and left with no powerful instincts to adapt to a changing world. On the other hand, they have acquired the ability to reason, which means they can think about their isolated condition. Fromm called this situation the  human dilemma .

5. Human Needs The Burden of Freedom Need for freedom Need for belongingness Character Orientations  Personality Disorders

6. Human Needs        According to Fromm, our human dilemma cannot be solved by satisfying our animal needs. It can only be addressed by fulfilling our uniquely human needs, which would move us toward a reunification with the natural world. Fromm also referred to these distinctively human needs as  existential needs.        A.      Relatedness        Fromm called our desire for union with another person relatedness. We can relate to others through (1) submission, (2) power, and (3) love. However,  love , or the ability to unite with another while retaining one’s own individuality and integrity, is the only relatedness need that can solve our basic human dilemma.        B.      Transcendence        Being thrown into the world without their consent, humans have the urge to rise above their passive and accidental existence—to   transcend their nature—by destroying or creating people or things. Humans can destroy through  malignant aggression,  or killing for reasons other than survival, but they can also create and care about their creations.    

7.    C.     Rootedness        By rootedness, Fromm meant the need to establish roots and to feel at home again in the world. Like the other existential needs, rootedness can take either a productive or a nonproductive mode. With the productive strategy, we grow beyond the security of our mother and establish ties with the outside world. With the nonproductive strategy, we become fixated and afraid to move beyond the security and safety of our mother or a mother substitute.        D.     Sense of Identity        The fourth human need is for a sense of identity, or our awareness of ourselves as a separate person. The drive for a sense of identity is expressed nonproductively as conformity to a group and productively as individuality.        E.      Frame of Orientation        By frame of orientation, Fromm meant a road map or consistent philosophy by which we find our way through the world. This need is expressed nonproductively as a striving for irrational goals and productively as movement toward rational goals.

8. The Burden of Freedom   As the only animal possessing self-awareness, humans are the freaks of the universe. Historically, as people gained more political freedom, they began to experience more isolation from others and from the world and to feel free from the security of a permanent place in the world. As a result, freedom becomes a burden, and people experience  basic anxiety , or a feeling of being alone in the world.

9. A.      Mechanisms of Escape        To reduce the frightening sense of isolation and aloneness, people may adopt one of three mechanisms of escape.        1.      Authoritarianism        The tendency to give up one’s independence and to unite with a powerful partner—authoritarianism—can take the form of either masochism or sadism. Masochism stems from feelings of powerlessness and can be disguised as love or loyalty. Sadism involves attempts to achieve unity by exploiting or hurting others.        2.      Destructiveness        Feelings of isolation can also produce destructiveness, an escape mechanism that is aimed at doing away with other people or things.        3.      Conformity        A third mechanism of escape is conformity, or surrendering of one’s individuality in order to meet the wishes of others.

10.  B.      Positive Freedom        Positive freedom is the spontaneous activity of the whole, integrated personality, which is achieved when a person becomes reunified with others and with the world. It is the successful solution to the human dilemma of being part of the natural world and yet separate from it.

11. Character Orientations    People relate to the world by acquiring and using things (assimilation) and by relating to self and others (socialization), and they can do so either non productively or productively.

12. A    Nonproductive Orientations    Strategies that fail to move people closer to positive freedom and self-realization are nonproductive . B. The Productive Orientation   Psychologically healthy people work toward positive freedom through productive  work ,  love , and  reasoning . Productive love necessitates a passionate love of all life and is called  biophilia .

13.   Nonproductive Orientations 1. Receptive    People who rely on the receptive orientation believe that the source of all good lies outside themselves and that the only way they can relate to the world is to receive things, including love, knowledge, and material objects. Positive qualities include loyalty and trust; negative ones are passivity and submissiveness.        2.      Exploitative    People with an exploitative orientation also believe that the source of good lies outside themselves, but they aggressively take what they want rather than passively receiving it. Positive qualities of exploitative people include pride and self-confidence; negative ones are arrogance and conceit.        3.      Hoarding    Hoarding characters try to save what they have already obtained, including their opinions, feelings, and material possessions. Positive qualities include loyalty, negative ones are obsessiveness and possessiveness.        4.      Marketing    People with a marketing orientation see themselves as commodities and value themselves against the criteria of their ability to sell themselves. They have fewer positive qualities than other orientations because they are essentially empty. However, they can be open-minded and adaptable.

14. Personality Disorders     Unhealthy people are characterized by their inability to work, think, and, especially, to love productively. Fromm recognized three major personality disorders: necrophilia, malignant narcissism, and incestuous symbiosis.

15. A.      Necrophilia        In Fromm’s framework, necrophilia is the love of death and the hatred of all humanity. Necrophilious people do not simply behave in a destructive manner; their destructiveness is a reflection of a basic character.        B.      Malignant Narcissism        Malignant narcissism is so powerful that it convinces people that everything belonging to them is of great value and anything belonging to others is worthless. Narcissistic people often suffer from  moral hypochondrias , or preoccupation with excessive guilt.        C.      Incestuous Symbiosis        Incestuous symbiosis is an extreme dependence on one’s mother or mother surrogate to the extent that one’s personality is blended with that of the host person. Fromm believed that a few people, such as Hitler, possessed all three of these disorders, a condition called the  syndrome of decay .