The first foreword to this book provides an interesting view of Fromm's decision to publish the work at the time that he did. He was responding to the Nazi advances in the world, primarily, and the retreat from freedom that totalitarianism represented. As he noted, to understand the actions of human beings is at least partially a psychological problem and, in this book, he sought to analyze the results of the change from the medieval, preindividualistic society of the past to the modern, individualistic society of the 20th century.
According to Fromm, medieval times had the advantage of offering a certain kind of emotional and psychological freedom to human beings. Although there were many problems in the medieval world, including war and plague, Fromm indicated that the belief structure and institutions of that time were so strong that human beings experienced themselves as inextricably embedded in their world and connected to each other. They did not have choices. They did not have unlimited freedom. They had a narrow path to follow, but the rewards were clearly mapped out for them and they believed in those rewards.
Yet, at the same time, the impulse was toward greater freedom. Human beings sought to free themselves from economic, political, and religious slavery and from the limits of disease. The impulse toward freedom is a genuine one. By the early 20th century, a great deal of freedom had been gained. There were nascent democracies in many parts of the world, although some of them were not to be long lived. There was considerable economic development through industrialization. Health care and life expectancy had greatly improved. Yet, there was also an impulse to repudiate or give up that freedom in service to something perceived as greater than the individual self. According to Fromm, this was seen in the devotion to Marxism, Naziism, and the industrial state. He quoted John Dewey about this problem, notin...