Erich Fromm

Escape from Freedom

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Why do people choose authoritarianism over freedom? The classic study of the psychological appeal of fascism by a New York Times–bestselling author.
The pursuit of freedom has indelibly marked Western culture since Renaissance humanism and Protestantism began the fight for individualism and self-determination. This freedom, however, can make people feel unmoored, and is often accompanied by feelings of isolation, fear, and the loss of self, all leading to a desire for authoritarianism, conformity, or destructiveness. It is not only the question of freedom that makes Fromm’s debut book a timeless classic. In this examination of the roots of Nazism and fascism in Europe, Fromm also explains how economic and social constraints can also lead to authoritarianism.
By the author of The Sane Society and The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, this is a fascinating examination of the anxiety that underlies our darkest impulses, an enlightening volume perfect for readers of Eric Hoffer or Hannah Arendt.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erich Fromm including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.
This book is currently unavailable
380 printed pages
Original publication
2013
Publication year
2013
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Impressions

  • Meursaltshared an impression5 years ago
    👍Worth reading
    🔮Hidden Depths
    💡Learnt A Lot

    I've just written an essay about freedom and this book helped me a lot.

Quotes

  • merushhhhas quoted4 years ago
    If every step in the direction of separation and individuation were matched by corresponding growth of the self, the development of the child would be harmonious. This does not occur, however. While the process of individuation takes place automatically, the growth of the self is hampered for a number of individual and social reasons. The lag between these two trends results in an unbearable feeling of isolation and powerlessness, and this in its turn leads to psychic mechanisms, which later on are described as mechanisms of escape.
  • merushhhhas quoted4 years ago
    However, submission is not the only way of avoiding aloneness and anxiety. The other way, the only one which is productive and does not end in an insoluble conflict, is that of spontaneous relationship to man and nature, a relationship that connects the individual with the world without eliminating his individuality. This kind of relationship—the foremost expressions of which are love and productive work—are rooted in the integration and strength of the total personality and are therefore subject to the very limits that exist for the growth of the self.
  • merushhhhas quoted4 years ago
    Just as a child can never return to the mother’s womb physically, so it can never reverse, psychically, the process of individuation.

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