Erich Fromm - To Have or to Be?

In TO HAVE OR TO BE?, Erich Fromm argues that in the present period of crisis, two ways of existence are struggling for the spirit of humankind. First - and dominant in modern industrial society - there is what he calls the 'having' mode, which concentrates on material possessions and power and is based on greed, envy and aggressiveness. The second - and alternative - way is of what he calls the 'being' mode, which manifests itself in the pleasure of shared experience and truly productive rather than wasteful activity, and is rooted in love and the ascendancy of human over material values.

Dr Fromm sees the 'having' mode as bringing the world to the brink of ecological and psychological disaster, and envisages a new emphasis on 'being' as the only course if humanity is to avoid catastrophe.

TO HAVE 'OR TO BE? is both a comprehensive analysis of the crisis of modern civilization and a uniquely detailed programme for a social and psychological revolution to save our threatened planet.

About the author:
Erich Fromm**,** Ph.D. (Sociology, University of Heidelberg, 1922) was a German-American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was a German Jew who fled the Nazi regime and settled in the United States. He was one of the founders of The William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis and Psychology in New York City and was associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory.

Fromm explored the interaction between psychology and society, and held various professorships in psychology in the U.S. and Mexico in the mid-20th century. Fromm's theory is a rather unique blend of Freud and Marx.