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 feel alienated from others as well as from nature itself. However, Fromm did not make it clear in his writings why or how this process is supposed to take place (p. 130). Fromm indicated that there are four ways in which people can experience alienation from others. The first is to feel a sense of distinction, or separateness, from others. The second is to fail to relate the self fully to others. The third way is to exploit others and to treat them as "machines." The fourth way is to be an extreme conformist and to have no "sense of self except the one which conformity with the majority can give" (p. 134). As in his view on nature, Fromm felt that the experience of alienation from society is inherent in the way society currently exists. Thus, the structure of society itself is designed to cause a sense of alienation among people. In particular, Fromm agreed with Marx by claiming that the wage system and the subsequent loss of worth in labor is responsible for causing alienation among most pe...