Man for Himself: An Inquiry Into the Psychology of Ethics

At about the age of 23 I discovered for the first time that I had a mind. Previous to that, I had been more-or-less incapable of any sort of introspection. Smoking marijuana opened my unconscious mind and I felt like I was able to step outside of myself and see myself for the first time. I immediately started reading books other than adventure novels. One of the first authors I discovered was Eric Fromm. His thinking completely galvanized me. I thought that he had figured out all human problems, and all people had to do was pay attention. I knew essentially nothing about Freud, Jung, Marx, Nietzsche, and so on, and Fromm synthesized all of their thinking into a coherent system. Fromm championed the bogey-man of right-wing Christianity, namely secular humanism. The idea of which is that the foundations for value systems should be based on man’s autonomy and reason. In order to know what was good for man, one has to know the nature of man. Authoritarian ethics is an irrational system based on acquiring power over people. This strikes me as so self-evident that it’s incredible that it could arouse controversy. Fromm claims that one of the best tools for knowing human nature is psychoanalysis.These days Freud’s ideas are commonly held to be erroneous, and some critics dismiss Fromm’s ideas as he relies upon ideas of Freud. This is nonsense. Freud was one of mankind’s greatest geniuses. While it is true that his motivations discoveries he made regarding human nature were physiologically clockwork, following the prejudices of his time, Fromm acknowledged this. Too completely dismiss Freud’s ideas on this basis would be like denouncing Kepler’s equations because he thought that planetary motion was caused by the “Holy Spirit,” or Newton’s theory of gravity because he explained it in terms of action at a distance.Rereading Fromm forty some years later, I am astonished at the extent to which he and I think alike. No doubt, this is because I devoured his work at an impressionable time of my life. So I still think that his ideas should be taught in high school. One thing I’ve become convinced of over the years is that irrational devotion to dogma is most often the source of evil, whether the dogma is religious or political. Teaching young people to not enslave their minds to authoritarian dogma is simply sane.

Una relectura de la obra de Erich Fromm, después de la primera, "The Sane Society", transcurridos casi sesenta años, permiten avizorar el futuro. He adquirido, recientemente, tomos faltantes en mi biblioteca personal, de la producción psicosocial de dicho autor, claves, del siglo pasado...para interpretar mejor la realidad del mundo globalizado actual. He sido afortunado, como en este caso, "Man for Himself", encontrarme un ejemplar usado en tan buenas condiciones como lo indicaba la oferta del vendedor y recibido en tiempo oportuno.

While it might, as first, appear a bit dated, this book is very relevant to today's world. Besides the obvious fact that basic human tendencies and needs don't change over time, the author's critique of society views people as commodities is even more widespread than at time of publication.

Fromm's ideas are timeless. His psychological, philosophical and political insights are more valuable today as our society faces the problems of growing inequality. He shows that the superficial self-help industry and the corporate advertising complex see us as easy prey for the quick fixes they offer as solutions for the deep struggles we face as a society and as individuals.This book demonstrates that we all have the ability to understand our own needs and society's needs on a deeper level. Simply having faith in our potential to develop our talents and combining our skills cooperatively with others will improve our society and our own mental health.

I last read this book a year ago, and it's teachings have stayed in my mind as have those in Alfred North Whitehead's Aims of Education. In my mind this is the value of a good book. In a review of this work Dr.LeeD. Carlson complains that Fromm offers too little scientific evidence for his findings. My intent is not to belittle science, but to elevate humanism, the philosophy of Fromm.If you like Erich Fromm you will enjoy this book; if you don't like him, don't waste your money or time; if you don't know Fromm, you owe it to yourself to try this book.I have given it 5 stars. You might too, but you must read it first.

The print quality is very bad and unreadable!

I really like the writing style and at the same time the substance of Mr. Fromm’s research. It is just writing but I do feel the direct reflection of his ideas in myself and other people.

One of the greatest works on psychology and sociology, by a serious and insightful thinker. I recommend all his fine works. Each one is a must have. This book is short, concise and easy to understand. Fromm was one of the best writers because he had the knack of making complex subjects simple and straightforward.

Interesting read for a new trainer interested in psychology. Fast delivery

In this book Fromm sticks to description rather than prescription, as a result it hasnt dated in quite the way that perhaps Sane Society or To Have To Be? have.The book's subtitle says a lot "An enquiry into the psychology of ethics" and its from this point that the chapters begin, Fromm states the problem, presents for consideration a humanistic ethics, which he considers the "applied science of the art of living", continues with a chapter on Human Nature and Character, which contains his own characterology and dynamic concept of character, the remainder of the book is dedicated to problems of humanistic ethics.Fromm wasnt the first to propose a psycho-analytical characerology or traits theory of personality, his theories have largely been eclipsed by Jung (archetypes) or Freud (oral, anal etc.), but his own theories exhibit attention to cultural factors and economic structures which sets them apart and I expect that his receptive, exploitative, hoarding and marketing personalities could be discovered anywhere and anyplace presently as much as at the time of writing.There's no explicit mention of socialism in the index, which is very clear and concise and will prove helpful to students or selective reading, and Fromm does not explicitly set out his stall as a socialistic psychologist in this book as in others. It may reach a wider audience as a consequence because people may be a little less blinkered.I also appreciated Fromm's analysis of self-interest, self love and selfishness, it amounts to more than word play and would prove anathema to simplistic individualist vs. (vulgar) socialist reasoning and argument. Too many people are willing to sacrifice altogether their humanity to humanitarianism.Characterology of this kind has become a little out moded with discoveries and nureological research in the field of attachment theory, attachment style and internalised "scripts" but if for no other reason that its literary or philosophical merit I would go on recommending this book to all.If you think this book is for you then also consider the book which Fromm considered its companion volume  Psychoanalysis and Religion (Terry Lectures) . Psychoanalysis and Religion (Terry Lectures)

The first page and second page of Chapter I are wrongly bound. It looks really confusing.

Erich Fromm perhaps understands the interpersonal and political implications of the 20th century as well as anyone.

Good,rarely a book achieved.....