ERICH FROMM AND THE QUEST FOR SOLIDARITY

Also by Lawrence Wilde

APPROACHES TO MARX (coeditor with Mark Cowling)

MARX AND CONTRADICTION

MODERN EUROPEAN SOCIALISM

ETHICAL MARXISM AND ITS RADICAL CRITICS

MARXISM'S ETHICAL THINKERS (editor)

ERICH FROMM AND THE QUEST FOR SoLIDARITY

LAWRENCE WILDE

* ERICH FROMM AND THE QUEST FOR SOLIDARITY

© Lawrence Wilde, 2004. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2004 978-1-4039-6141-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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ISBN 978-1-349-73113-8 ISBN 978-1-137-07511-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-07511-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wilde, Lawrence.

Erich Fromm and the quest for solidarity I Lawrence Wilde. p.cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Solidarity. 2. Humanistic ethics. 3. Fromm, Erich, 1900-1. Title.

HM717.W55 2004 302'.14-dc22 2004046072

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For Frances Catherine

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Principal Events in the Life of Erich Fromm

1. Introduction: The Quest

2. Freedom Lost

3. Humanistic Ethics

4. Toward a Gendered Humanism

5. Work

6. Consumption

7. Democracy

8. One World

9. Conclusion: Radical Humanism and Human Solidarity

Notes

Select Bibliography

Index

Vlll

lX

19

37

57

75

97

113

131

145

153

179

181

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am indebted to Ian Fraser and Vincent Geoghegan for their meticulous and invaluable comments on the entire manuscript, and to Tony Burns for his comments on an early version of chapter four. Special thanks to Rainer Funk for his wonderful hospi­tality at the Erich Fromm Archive in Tiibingen, and for granting permission to quote from the works of Erich Fromm. Many thanks to participants who commented on papers presented on Fromm's work at the University of Sussex, Edge Hill College, Lancashire, and Nottingham Trent University. I am grateful to Nottingham Trent University for granting me a sabbatical at the beginning of the project, and to the library staff there for helping me with interlibrary loans. Thank you to Joan Melia for her tireless and skillful work in helping to knock this book into shape, and to her and our daughter Frances Catherine for creating the loving environment in which it has been produced. I am grateful to Anthony Wahl of Palgrave, New York, for his enthusiastic support for this project.

PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ERICH FROMM

1900 March 23, born in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, the only child of an Orthodox Jewish middle-class family.

1914 Outbreak ofWar causes Fromm to question the irrationality of nationalism. 1916 Begins Talmudic studies with Rabbi Nehemia Nobel, until1921. 1918 Graduates from the Wohler-Schule and begins studying law at the

University of Frankfurt. 1919 Moves to the University of Heidelberg and studies Sociology and

Economics. 1920 Talmudic studies under Salman Rabinkow, a socialist, until1926. 1922 Awarded a doctorate from Heidelberg for a dissertation on the sociology

of three communities of the Jewish diaspora. 1924 Psychoanalyzed by Frieda Reichmann. They set up a therapy center for

Jewish patients in Heidelberg. 1926 Marries Frieda Reichmann. Rejects theistic religion. 1928 Further psychoanalytical training in Berlin. 1929 Returns to Frankfurt to help found the South German Institute for

Psychoanalysis. Seeks a new social psychology combining Marx's sociology and Freud's psychoanalysis.

1930 Publishes The Dogma of Christ. Joins the Institute for Social Research (the Frankfurt School) as head of psychoanalysis and social psychology. Commences work on an empirical project on the personality structure of the German working class. Completes psychoanalytical training in Berlin and opens his own practice.

1931 Parts from Frieda Fromm-Reichmann. 1932 Contracts tuberculosis and recuperates in Davos, Switzerland. 1933 Accession to power of Hitler and the Nazis forces the Institute for Social

Research to move to Geneva, Switzerland. Death of father. Begins rela­tionship with the psychoanalyst Karen Horney.

1934 Emigrates to the United States and continues work with the Institute at its new home in New York. Sets up psychoanalytical practice.

1935 Cooperation with psychoanalysts Harry Stack Sullivan and Clara Thompson.

1937 Rejects Freud's drive theory.

X / PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ERICH FROMM

1938 New outbreak of tuberculosis. Convalesces in Switzerland. 1939 Leaves the Institute for Social Research. 1940 Becomes a citizen of the United States. 1941 Publication of Escape From Freedom. Teaches at the New School for Social

Research in New York. Divorces Frieda Fromm-Reichmann. His mother comes to live in New York.

1943 Ends relationship with Karen Horney. 1944 Marries Henny Gurland. Teaches at Bennington College, Vermont. 1946 Responsible for the training of teachers at the New York branch of the

William Allanson White Institute of Psychiatry. 1947 Publication of Man For Himself in which he sets down a normative

conception of human essence. 1948 Teaches Psychoanalysis and Religion at Yale University. 1950 Moves to Mexico City to secure a better climate for his sick wife. 1951 Founds the Mexican Institute for Psychoanalysis in the National

Autonomous University of Mexico. 1952 Death ofHenny Gurland-Fromm. 1953 Though still resident in Mexico City, begins annual three month-long

visits to New York to work at the New School for Social Research and the William Allanson Institute. Marries Annis Freeman.

1955 Publication of The Sane Society. 1956 Publication of The Art of Loving, which goes on to sell 25 million copies. 1957 Helps to found the peace movement SANE, the National Committee for

a Sane Nuclear Policy. Marks the beginning of 11 years of political activism. Begins six-year empirical study of the social character of the villagers of Chiconcuac in Mexico.

1959 Death of his mother. 1960 Active engagement with the American Socialist Party, speaking on its

behalf to mass audiences at Yale and Chicago Universities. 1961 Publication of May Man Prevail?, an analysis of U.S. foreign policy, and

Marx's Concept of Man, bringing Marx's early philosophical writings to an English-speaking readership for the first time.

1964 Publication of The Heart of Man. 1965 Edits an anthology, Socialist Humanism, bringing in contributions from

leading theorists from throughout the world and making an important contribution to the development of the New Left.

1966 Draws huge audiences to lectures for peace. In a three-week lecture tour of California in May he speaks to an audience of 60,000 people. In December, prior to speaking at an anti-Vietnam War rally at Madison Square Gardens, has his first heart attack.

1968 Supports and writes speeches for Eugene McCarthy's campaign to win the Democratic nomination for President. Publication of The Revolution of Hope.

1969 Begins to spend summers in Ticino, Switzerland. 1973 Publication of The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness. 197 4 Leaves Mexico and retires to Ticino.

PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ERICH FROMM / XI

1976 Publication of To Have or To Be?, a summary of his social and political thought.

1977 Second heart attack. He is feted as a visionary figure by young radical movements in Germany and Italy.

1978 Third heart attack. 1980 March 18, dies following fourth heart attack.