Erich Fromm's 1946 Classic, Escape from Freedom

Amica: This work discusses the disorientation of humans during and after the Protestant revolution, various European wars and Industrial Revolution, which resulted in neurotic beliefs and behavior still manifest today in (for example) the MAGA movement in the US. Fromm more or less rejects biological bases for behavior (such as posited by Freud) and centers all life in social relationships - a position I find very believable. His discussion of how Hitlerism took ascendancy in Fromm’s own birthplace (Fromm was born and educated an observant German Jew) is worth pondering as well, though it’s only a theory, based on large scale historical events that can be interpreted in more than one way. Food for thought.

United States on Mar 10, 2023

dalya: Which Fromm , how we always end up.in a dictatorship I. Aver informed and humane way.
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Canada on Mar 20, 2022

Sam Hiced: In a way it's almost astonishing that this book is even legal. In a couple hundred pages it explains how modern society has corrupted man, how freedom has been lost, critical thinking dumped in the bin, and how the unconscious strivings of man can result in seemingly irrational behaviors.

All of this knowledge can be put together in such a way that it could easily be used to gain control over people at a micro and macro level. I feel like this book is the closest thing I've ever seen to forbidden knowledge.

Of course, all of this knowledge can also be used to free yourself from tyranny and group think. So on that front it's quite positive.

This is not an easy book to read. It is slow work and there have been passages that I've been forced to reread three, four, five, six times. Yet the reward is worth the toil.

United States on Oct 20, 2021

Lm: An excellent book by Erich Fromm.
It is relevant still today with the further alienation from our true nature. I would recommend it as a book we should all read.

United Kingdom on Jul 15, 2020

Gabriel Padilha Alves: This book delivers the psychology that surrounds Freedom while analyzes the life of people during the Reformation (Calvinism and Lutheranism), Hitler and some other cases, getting even a bit into the subject of dreams, repressed thoughts, lack of individuality and critical sense.

It also covers the origin of destructiveness and sado-masochism, which are present in people who are Escaping FROM Freedom instead of Escaping TO Freedom.

This book is highly recommended to someone who wants to understand Hitler's behavior or to uncover the origins of your own destructiveness or sado-masochistic behavior. I also recommend to someone who wants to improve quality of life by delving into the unconscious and solving your lack of love, growth and expression.

Brazil on Jan 26, 2020

Alan E. Johnson: Erich Fromm (1900-80) was a famous psychoanalyst and social psychologist who wrote several important books on history, psychology, ethics, and political philosophy. Although influenced by Freud, he disagreed with his famous predecessor on several important issues.

Escape from Freedom was first published in 1941. At this time Hitler had taken over much of continental Europe with the further objectives of conquering England and the Soviet Union. World War II was raging, but the United States did not enter the war until after the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Fromm, who was of Jewish descent, fled Germany after Hitler came to power; he moved to the United States in 1934, where he resided at the time he wrote this work.

Fromm’s book contains an interesting discussion of the rise of modernity from the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages, every individual had an established place, and economic institutions existed for the support of people rather than for profit. The greed that sought after more and more money was considered a sin by the Church, which had considerable influence over government and society. However, this medieval regime was upset by...

United States on Jan 05, 2020

Manuel Alvarez Suarez: Ya lo he leído varias veces en castellano.
Excelente libro, aunque ahora los "demonios" que atentan contra la Libertad son otros, básicamente las drogas y la Televisión.

Spain on Jun 11, 2019

Kindle Customer: This book is immensely readable and explores the true purpose of freedom for the individual. It demolishes the fake ness associated with modern society. A must read.

India on Aug 03, 2017

Collin O'Donnell: Published in 1941, Escape from Freedom is considered the masterpiece of the German social psychologist, Erich Fromm. Fromm, who fled Germany during the Nazi uprising in the 1930s, contends in his book that the more 'modern man' becomes independent, self-reliant, and critical, the more he becomes isolated, alone, and afraid.

Essentially, he views the rise of capitalism in the late Middle Ages/Early Renaissance to be the beginning of man's conflict with the modern sense of freedom. Within the Feudal system of the Middle Ages, man was shackled to his social position for his entire life. This was before the idea of economic competition was introduced, and man of the Middle Ages had not to worry about climbing the ladder of success. Although the restriction is obvious, Fromm argues that there was also much security in this system that allowed for man to live a life unburdened by the idea of prosperity. However, by the end of the Middle Ages, "the unity and centralization of the medieval society became weaker...In Italy, for the first time, the individual emerged from feudal society and broke ties which had been giving him security and narrowing him at one in the same time." The...

United States on May 27, 2015