There is a wide variety of psychoanalytic theories. From Freudian psychoanalysis to divergent currents such as Adler’s individual psychology or Carl Jung’s depth psychology, numerous authors have studied the human psyche based on the postulates that give rise to the psychodynamic approach.
One of the thinkers and writers who differs most in this regard is Erich Fromm, author of a movement that mixed psychoanalytic theories with humanist philosophy. He was responsible for offering a vision of the psychodynamic current that was more focused on the social and the need to motivate reflection based on inspiring ideas. In this article we are going to review the main books of Erich Fromm
Fromm is considered the father of humanistic psychoanalysis He believed that, although the patient’s pain and suffering are elements of great importance, the focus of attention should be placed on the pursuit of happiness and well-being. In other words, he considered that to overcome discomfort and pain it is necessary for the subject to accept himself and develop affection, giving meaning to his life and the pain suffered.
Thus, he proposes that to understand the mind it is necessary to explore the positive side of personality and their strengths, instead of concentrating on pathological aspects.
12 of the best books by Erich Fromm
Below you can find a selection of the best books by Erich Fromm, considered among the most relevant of his work.
1. Fear of freedom
Considered one of the main and most important works of Fromm In this essay the author works on the concept of freedom and its meaning for the modern human being.
Here, this thinker analyzes the concept in society and the fall of the human being in aspects that put it in crisis. The book also explains some of the aspects of freedom that are currently compromised, such as its political expression restricted by fascism or social expression, with society tending to make all individuals behave and be in a certain way. homogeneous.
2. The art of loving
One of the concepts that Fromm often works with is love. In this work, another of the author’s best-known and representative works, he analyzes this concept and reflects on what it means to love.
The author delves into the various forms of expression of love, both towards the partner and towards family, friends or even towards himself. Love is considered something that must be cultivated and transformed in order to understand the loved one, a work of art in which the person occupies their energies and which implies maturity and learning.
3. The heart of man
The third of Fromm’s masterpieces is The Heart of Man. Here, the author analyzes and reflects on aspects such as the capacity of the human being when seeking pleasure or causing pain about violence and frustration, the love of life or death (referring to Freudian drives), freedom or aspects such as the Oedipus complex and narcissism.
4. Beyond the chains of illusion
This book was defined by Fromm himself as an intellectual autobiography regarding his thought recounting some vital experiences (such as the suicide of a young woman and the experience of the First World War) that marked him and made him seek an explanation for irrationality, finding some answers in the work of Karl Marx.
Furthermore, in this book Fromm confronts the ideas of Freud and Marx, which were the origin of his thinking, working on concepts such as individual and social responsibility.
You may be interested: “70 phrases by Erich Fromm to understand his thoughts”
In this book the author works on a fundamental aspect of his theory, the fact that the normal can become pathological and the pathological can be the normal For the author, pathology usually develops due to the attempt to adapt to what is demanded by an increasingly demanding society, deteriorating people’s mental state because we become increasingly incapable of linking ourselves to reality.
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6. And you will be like gods
Today’s society has left aside the concept of God, leaving a certain void that causes confusion between what we are and what we have. The consumerism of our time is generated by the absence of a sense of life and a feeling of isolation and internal emptiness. The author proposes trying to look for changes in the social structure that can guide the human being to feel liberated and full
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7. The art of listening
In the texts of this work, Erich Fromm talks about his way of understanding therapy as a process through which to understand the person and their unconscious. He proposes that the therapist listen to your patient with affection and sympathy moving away from cold therapeutic relationships based on theory.
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8. Spirit and society
This posthumous book includes various articles by Fromm which demonstrate what the author considers as the starting point of his theory, the fact that the social requirement causes states of inconsistency in people This would be one of the factors that would separate Fromm from the psychoanalytic school.
It also talks about aspects such as the understanding of the social unconscious, the therapeutic relationship, bureaucracy or the paradoxes that society makes us face.
On this page you can read more about the book.
9. From having to being
Fromm proposes in this book that today’s society is immersed in a situation in which being is confused with having, so that whoever has the most is the best. For this reason, people must analyze their own lives and way of thinking, proposing that we live with love and reason as our main pillars. Pain and suffering are necessary to become wise so we must forget about the method of flight to focus on becoming again.
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10. About disobedience
Obedience to one’s own nature and political disobedience They are the theme on which this work is based, which summarizes the author’s thoughts on the matter. The author indicates that the fulfilled human being must have the needs of identity, relationship, transcendence and belonging covered, criticizing the obstacles that society places so that we are able to fulfill them. Falling into blind obedience and totalitarianism can damage the integrity of the person and ignore the value of people and life.
You will find more information about the work through this link.
11. The forgotten language
This book deals with one of the aspects that have been strongly analyzed by psychoanalysis: dreams. In this book Fromm intends to participate in the analysis of the symbolic elements of dreams helping us understand what they mean and how they can help understand the unconscious according to the paradigm of psychocodynamics.
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12. Ethics and psychoanalysis
In this work Fromm raises the need for apply ethics in the world of psychology, considering that psychoanalysis has made a big mistake by trying to separate the psychological from the moral in patients, ignoring that this is also part of the person and their experiences (one must try to help the patient form positive ethics and character) . Said ethics should not be authoritarian, like that of the superego and censorship, but rather it must be humanistic and objectivist, based on self-love and self-acceptance and the deployment of potentialities.
