To Have or To Be?
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Life in the modern age began when people no longer lived at the mercy of nature and instead took control of it. We planted crops so we didn't have to forage, and produced planes, trains, and cars for transport. With televisions and computers, we don't have to leave home to see the world. Somewhere in that process, the natural tendency of humankind went from one of being and of practicing our own human abilities and powers, to one of having by possessing objects and using tools that replace our own powers to think, feel, and act independently. Fromm argues that positive change—both social and economic—will come from being, loving, and sharing.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erich Fromm including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author's estate.
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About this ebook
Life in the modern age began when people no longer lived at the mercy of nature and instead took control of it. We planted crops so we didn't have to forage, and produced planes, trains, and cars for transport. With televisions and computers, we don't have to leave home to see the world. Somewhere in that process, the natural tendency of humankind went from one of being and of practicing our own human abilities and powers, to one of having by possessing objects and using tools that replace our own powers to think, feel, and act independently. Fromm argues that positive change—both social and economic—will come from being, loving, and sharing.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erich Fromm including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author's estate.
Erich Fromm
Erich Fromm (1900–1980) was a bestselling psychoanalyst and social philosopher whose views about alienation, love, and sanity in society—discussed in his books such as Escape from Freedom, The Art of Loving, The Sane Society, and To Have or To Be?—helped shape the landscape of psychology in the mid-twentieth century. Fromm was born in Frankfurt, Germany, to Jewish parents, and studied at the universities of Frankfurt, Heidelberg (where in 1922 he earned his doctorate in sociology), and Munich. In the 1930s he was one of the most influential figures at the Frankfurt Institute of Social Research. In 1934, as the Nazis rose to power, he moved to the United States. He practiced psychoanalysis in both New York and Mexico City before moving to Switzerland in 1974, where he continued his work until his death.
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Reviews
256 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Mar 9, 2018
This book consists of excerpts from books by Fromm and interviews with him, organized topically by the editor. This approach emphasizes a few points in each chapter, often rather redundantly. Fromm criticizes modern civilization for how it tends to change human character. Every society shapes its members, beyond their individual dispositions, into what that society needs: warriors, farmers, factory workers, etc. Fromm sees industrial society as reducing individuals to workers and consumers, trapping them in the dynamics of "having", which interferes with their broader human potential for "being". - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Feb 1, 2024
Amazing. A must-read. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Feb 1, 2024
Amazing. A must-read. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Sep 15, 2021
As always, it's a tremendous pleasure to read Erich Fromm. In addition to not limiting himself to merely defining a humanistic philosophy, he goes a step further and takes the risk of making proposals on what a humanistic government should be like. I believe this book accurately highlights the Western philosophy of "having," at least in the southern parts of Mexico (which is evident from afar), and that despite the enormous economic, social, and political imbalance experienced there, people display a type of eudemonia created under a misanthropic philosophy precisely due to selfishness, envy, unhealthy competitiveness, and other gossip. Yes... in southern Mexico, we have a prevailing philosophy of having. And I say this as someone who lives here... (Translated from Spanish) - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5
May 27, 2013
Fromm states that people in our society have become obsessed with acquiring property, keeping it and increasing it. People become property to be owned and used. He rejects the ideas of the enlightenment and those thinkers who believe people can live freely and trade with one another maintaining a respect for each other through sharing mutual values. His views about people seem to stem from a static view of power rather than a dynamic view of the possibilities for individuals who choose to live a flourishing life. He claims that humans have a deeply rooted desire to express themselves, yet he does not explain the apparent contradiction between this view and the social structure that forces people to have rather than to be. Joy is experienced through productive behavior which, for Fromm often ends in sadness. It was disappointing to read a book that was contradictory on so many levels.1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
May 16, 2020
Along with his essay "To Have or To Be?", I have been captivated not only by the neat words he uses but also by a way of expressing that doesn’t tire when reading it, simply a reading that I enjoyed and whose content aids in understanding or personal growth. (Translated from Spanish) - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Dec 21, 2018
Great, one of the best I have read, it completely clarifies the difference between Being and Having, how behavior changes from one to the other. (Translated from Spanish) - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
May 10, 2018
It's not just a thesis, it's perhaps a more humanistic solution to the world's problems... (Translated from Spanish) - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Aug 7, 2014
I saw this book in the secondhand shop in Sharrow and didn't buy it. Then yesterday I cycled down to say goodbye to the Greek man selling his gift shop and to buy a lunch in the Sharrow Marrow and after locking up the bike I went back into the book shop and bought this book after all. I read some in the cafe spilling tea on its early pages then I biked through Endcliffe Park and got off the bike, sat on the grass and read some more. When I got home I read some more. All the time thinking - he wrote this in the seventies and yet it is fresh and speaks to us from the author's grave. No higher praise than this.
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From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.