Erich Fromm and the human condition

“Marx is like the Bible: He is quoted often but rarely truly understood.” It is reported that these words belong to Erich Fromm. Since Marx died in 1883, there were still 17 years until Erich Fromm was born. Marx was being discussed and people were trying to understand him all over the world. So much so that states were even founded based on his ideas; these states even made up a significant part of the globe, and his thoughts spread to every corner of the world.

Perhaps it was not Marx who was meant to be understood, but the human being. For humanity's ancient troubles and contradictions were endless. Thus, the path to be walked was difficult and arduous; they would encounter storms, and perhaps they would turn back from the brink of cliffs. It was necessary to walk, to walk even more for that.

One of those who walked that path was Erich Fromm. He was born in 1900 in Frankfurt, Germany. According to reports, he was the only child of a grumpy father and a mother prone to depression. As will be seen, Fromm would first have to confront his family to understand the “human.” Then, the circle of this confrontation grew, expanded, and spread to his entire life.

The years of the First World War coincide with Fromm's adolescence. It is during this period that the famous thinker questions mass deaths and human destructiveness. He asks, “Why do people fight?” The answer to this question would take him years. For this very reason, he studied Philosophy, Sociology, and Psychology at Heidelberg University. He received his doctorate from this university at the age of 25. Subsequently, he received psychoanalysis training at the Psychoanalytic Institutes in Munich, Frankfurt, and Berlin. Meanwhile, in 1926, he married his first wife, psychiatrist Frieda Reichmann, who was ten years his senior, but they separated eight years later.

Fromm's encounter with Nazism took place in the early 1930s. Fromm, who was also of Jewish descent, emigrated first to Switzerland and then to America due to the growing Nazi threat. The famous philosopher continued his work in the field of psychiatry without slowing down. First, in 1941, he became a member of the Psychoanalytic Association founded by Karen Horney. Later, he left this association with Sullivan and took part in the founding of the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis and Psychology in 1946.

When the calendar pages showed 1944, Fromm married Henny Gurland. This marriage also led him to turn toward Zen Buddhism, as religion and mysticism were areas of interest for Gurland. In 1952, the Fromm-Gurland couple emigrated to Mexico due to health problems. However, Fromm's wife, Gurland, lost her life in that country the same year. The information that Gurland committed suicide is among the notes recorded in history. This situation deeply affected Fromm, but it did not last very long. Because a year later, he met and fell in love with Annis Freeman, who would appear as his third wife. The short notes and subsequent long letters between them are expressed as texts that poured into words their ever-growing love. And then those texts appeared in Fromm's “The Art of Loving.” In other words, this correspondence was used to shape that book.

1968 is an important year for the philosopher. Indeed, in this year, he reduced his work pace due to health problems. In 1974, he emigrated to Switzerland with his wife and passed away in 1980.

As we stated at the beginning of our article, Fromm fundamentally wants to understand and know the human being; to work on the human in the context of nature-human and the life cycle. He established himself as one of the most important representatives of the Marxist-socialist, humanistic approach in the field of psychology. He produced works that have been read for decades and will continue to be read. He wants to make visible the contradictions, invisible sides, and the aspects of the human being that remain in the shadows and are difficult to express. Of course, we know that he followed a structural, historical path in all these works. Because the human being is shaped and recreates itself through its environment, the change in sociological dynamics and technology; and primarily through the bond it establishes with nature, and the relationship it establishes with the city, objects, and other people.

It is, of course, not possible to include all of Fromm's ideas within the limits of an article. However, I would like to express here his ideas on one particular subject. According to Fromm, while the human being is also an animal due to its physical needs, it is a separate species of living being that differs from the animal due to its characteristics such as thinking and being aware. For this very reason, it is unique among living things. This situation puts the human in a very difficult position; in Fromm's words, the human is a freak species of living being that is aware of itself and lives in an animal body. Therefore, unlike animals, it wants to build its own world of life. It needs a new state of “togetherness.” This could be possible in two ways: Either it will eliminate its awareness and reason and become “animalized” again, or it will choose the path of “progress” by developing its human powers. In short, he says: “Even someone who does not lead a productive life, who does not create anything, does not want to be a passive person like a die thrown from a cup. They desire to transcend the limit.”

So, what must a human do to create? First of all, they must have areas of interest, develop their talents, reach a productive position, and fulfill many other conditions suitable for this. If this happens, they will be able to participate in life as a living being that experiences its awareness and will be able to bond with it. But what if they are deprived of the conditions for creation? “That is when,” says Fromm, the human will look for ways to destroy, will try to transcend their animal state by destroying, will turn into a destructive being, and will build the bond their existence has with life from there. Creating is a path equivalent to progressing and producing, and as we mentioned before, many conditions are needed for this. Whereas to destroy, a gun or a strong arm to defeat your opponent will suffice.

Ultimately, Fromm's goal is for everyone to realize the love of life and creative potential, and for the destructive aspects of the bond established with life to be eliminated. As a conscious living being, the human can only remain “healthy” within such a cycle.

If we want to make the thought more concrete and leave it to Fromm, we encounter these words:

“This is a system of thought and feeling that is processed on the development, integrity, dignity, and freedom of the human being; it is not a tool toward anything, but an end in itself for the human, it is the capacity to be active not as an individual, but as a historical participant, and the fact that every human carries all of humanity within themselves.”

In a world dominated by the accumulation of property and the ostentatious society of labels, it will naturally be difficult to understand Fromm's findings. Indeed, he also speaks, writes, sets out, and participates in studies to overcome capitalism. What needs to be overcome is capitalism, a system that revolves around the interests of a handful of people. With its destructive side, it is destroying not only the human but also nature. There is not much distance left that can be traveled with this system anyway. Because the system, in Fromm's words, “is built on the idea of mutually profitable exchange, on the hunger for buying.” And the shopping and hunger of the rich seem unlikely to end.

Erich Fromm is one of the most valuable names we need these days. He continues to shed light on us with his books, speeches, and analyses. As long as the human wants to get out of this dark age they have fallen into.