Fromm's View of Alienation

In Fromm's view, alienation is something which is "all-pervasive" in contemporary society (p. 147). He claimed that there are four main ways in which a person can experience alienation: from nature, from others, from society, and from the self. Regarding the experience of alienation from nature, Fromm disagreed with both Hegel and Marx by indicating that man's essence is not to be found in either the social substance or labor. Rather, Fromm claimed that "the essence of man consists in the... contradiction inherent in his existence," namely, "that he is a part of nature and yet transcends it, being endowed with reason and self-awareness" (p. 126). From this, it can be seen that Fromm believed that alienation from nature is practically unavoidable for human beings.

According to Fromm, man's separation from nature is related to his alienation from other people (p. 130). Somehow, the transcending of nature is supposed to make people f

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Category: Psychology - F