Erich Fromm 1900 – 1980
Erich Fromm was a German-Jewish social psychologist, psychoanalyst, and humanist philosopher associated in his early career with the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research. After fleeing Nazi Germany he lived and taught in the United States and Mexico, where he integrated Freud and Marx into a sustained analysis of the character structures generated by modern capitalism. Escape from Freedom, The Art of Loving, and To Have or to Be reached a wide popular audience and shaped humanistic psychology. His critique of consumer society and his vision of love as a productive activity remain influential.
Key facts
- Nationality
- German-American
- Era
- Contemporary
- Movements
- Critical Theory, Continental
Selected quotes
-
Attributed to Erich Fromm:
“To love means to commit oneself without guarantee.”
-
Attributed to Erich Fromm:
“Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.”
-
Attributed to Erich Fromm:
“The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love.”
-
Attributed to Erich Fromm:
“Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself.”
-
Attributed to Erich Fromm:
“There is no meaning to life except the meaning man gives his life by the unfolding of his powers.”