The fear of freedom
The fear of freedom (original Escape from Freedom ) is a book by the psychoanalyst, philosopher and social psychologist Erich Fromm , which was published in 1941.
With this book, Fromm intended to examine the interactions between psychological and sociological factors in addition to his character studies of modern man.
The aim of the investigation was to identify “the reasons for the totalitarian flight from freedom”.
content
In the foreword the author names the core message of the book:
“The thesis of the book is that modern man, after he freed himself from the shackles of pre-individualistic society, which at the same time gave him security and set limits, has not yet achieved freedom - understood as the positive realization of his individual self Has."
Fromm first examines the concept of freedom as such, i.e. H. Freedom as a "psychological problem". In the following he looks at the historical development of individualism and the “double face of freedom”.
In his investigation, he then devotes himself to the mechanisms of escape from freedom:
- Escape into the authoritarian (see authoritarian character )
- Flight into the destructive (see later publication Anatomy of Human Destructiveness )
- Escape into the conformist (see conformism )
The escape mechanisms are examined from a depth psychological perspective, i. H. taking into account unconscious forces.
context
Fromm developed his character theory in psychoanalysis and ethics even further. He regards the latter as a kind of continuation.
Years earlier, under Fromm's leadership, the authoritarian character was empirically examined as part of the Berlin workers 'and salaried employees' survey. He carried out this study “on the eve of the Third Reich” at the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research .
The book quickly became popular at the time of its publication in America in 1941. The public was particularly interested in the analysis of Nazism and Hitler's personality structure .
Former Federal President Joachim Gauck also refers to the fear of freedom with regard to his view of freedom .
In the modern discourse reference is made to script as well; the journalist Paul Mason quotes Fromm's work in his text Don't be afraid of freedom .
literature
- Erich Fromm: The fear of freedom 1941a. In: Rainer Funk (Ed.): Erich Fromm complete edition in 12 volumes. Volume I: Analytical Social Psychology. Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-421-05280-8 , pp. 215-392.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Fromm, p. 218 (preface)
- ↑ a b Fromm, from the table of contents.
- ↑ Note: This is the subtitle of the study by Wolfgang Bonß published decades later.
- ↑ Fromm, p. XXVI ( Introduction by the editor , On the life and work of Erich Fromm in the complete edition, Volume I)
- ↑ Joachim Gauck: Between fear and inclination - the Germans and freedom , Berlin, April 21, 2009 (3rd Berlin speech on freedom at the Brandenburg Gate of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom ), online version ( Memento from 18. February 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (here from minute 52:40).
- ^ Page with PDF of the 3rd Berlin Speech on Freedom at the Brandenburg Gate of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom . Direct reference to The Fear of Freedom : PDF from page 16 (labeled with page 29). Retrieved November 21, 2017.
- ↑ Paul Mason: Don't be afraid of freedom. In: Heinrich Geiselberger (Ed.): The great regression. An international debate about the intellectual situation of the time. 1st edition. edition Suhrkamp, 2017, ISBN 978-3-518-07291-2 , pp. 149–174 (mention of the book Die Furcht vor der Freiheit on p. 167).