Fear of Freedom

Erich Fromm (1900-1980) Psychoanalyst and author, Fromm is arguably one of the most outstanding figures of 20th Century humanism.

"Erich Fromm speaks with wisdom, compassion, learning and insight into the problems of individuals trapped in a social world that is needlessly cruel and hostile."- Noam Chomsky"He has enriched our understanding of man in humanity, compassion and love."- Sunday Times"TheFear of Freedomexamined the plight of man in the post existentialist world; it saw man as cut off from the homely security of the medieval paradise, driven by loneliness and fear to seek solutions to his predicament in the shelter of political tyrannies. Fromm's was a subtle exploration of the "negative aspect of freedom", a situation in which he saw modern man as alleviating his unbearable powerlessness and isolation only by morbid activity."- The Times"Dr Fromm has attacked his subject in a fresh and original way and thrown a flood of illumination on it."- Times Educational Supplement

• ForewordFreedom--A Psychological Problem?The Emergence of the Individual and the Ambiguity of Freedom Freedom in the Age of the Reformation Medieval Background and the RenaissanceThe Period of the ReformationThe Two Aspects of Freedom for Modern Man Mechanisms of EscapeAuthoritarianismDestructivenessAutomaton ConformityPsychology of NazismFreedom and Democracy The Illusion of IndividualityFreedom and SpontaneityAppendix: Character and the Social ProcessIndex