890:. Modern democracy and the industrialised nation are models he praises but it is stressed that the kind of external freedom provided by this kind of society can never be utilised to the full without an equivalent inner freedom. Fromm suggests that though we are free from totalitarian influence of any sorts in this kind of society, we are still dominated by the advice of experts and the influence of advertising. The way to become free as an individual is to be spontaneous in our self-expression and in the way we behave. This is crystallised in his existential statement "there is only one meaning of life: the act of living it". Fromm counters suggestions that this might lead to social chaos by claiming that being truly in touch with our humanity is to be truly in touch with the needs of those with whom we share the world.
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750:, and has often been fought for historically but, according to Fromm, on its own it can be a destructive force unless accompanied by a creative element – 'freedom to' – the use of freedom to employ the total integrated personality in creative acts. This, he argues, necessarily implies a true connectedness with others that goes beyond the superficial bonds of conventional social intercourse: "...in the spontaneous realization of the self, man unites himself anew with the world..."
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Fromm characterises the authoritarian personality as containing both sadistic and masochistic elements. The authoritarian wishes to gain control over other people in a bid to impose some kind of order on the world, but also wishes to submit to the control of some superior force which may come in the
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suggests that Hitler had an authoritarian personality structure that not only made him want to rule over
Germany in the name of a higher authority (the idea of a natural master race) but also made him an appealing prospect for an insecure middle class that needed some sense of pride and certainty.
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suggested that people could not work for salvation but have instead been chosen arbitrarily before they could make any difference. Both of these, argues Fromm, are responses to a freer economic situation. The first gives individuals more freedom to find holiness in the world around them without a
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is only reached when something has replaced the original order and provided humans with a new security. Fromm does not indicate that the new system will necessarily be an improvement. In fact, Fromm indicates this will only break the never-ending cycle of negative freedom that society submits to.
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actually provided a way for people to work towards salvation. While people could not change their destinies, they could discover the extent of their holiness by committing themselves to hard work and frugality, both traits that were considered virtuous. In reality this made people work harder to
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Freedom, argues Fromm, became an important issue in the 20th century, being seen as something to be fought for and defended. However, it has not always occupied such a prominent place in people's thinking and, as an experience, is not necessarily something that is unambiguously enjoyable.
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Fromm suggests there is a propensity to submit to authoritarian regimes when nations experience negative freedom but he sounds a positive note when he claims that the work of cultural evolution hitherto cannot be undone and Nazism does not provide a genuine union with the world.
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As 'freedom from' is not an experience we enjoy in itself, Fromm suggests that many people, rather than using it successfully, attempt to minimise its negative effects by developing thoughts and behaviours that provide some form of security. These are as follows:
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Fromm analyzes the character of Nazi ideology and suggests that the psychological conditions of
Germany after the first world war fed into a desire for some form of new order to restore the nation's pride. This came in the form of
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system that replaces the old order with another of different external appearance but identical function for the individual: to eliminate uncertainty by prescribing what to think and how to act. Fromm characterizes this as a
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Although this bears a similarity to sadism, Fromm argues that the sadist wishes to gain control over something. A destructive personality wishes to destroy something it cannot bring under its control.
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In the process of becoming freed from authority, Fromm says we are often left with feelings of hopelessness (he likens this process to the individuation of infants in the normal course of
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811:. Luther painted a picture of man's relationship with God that was personal and individuated and free from the influence of the church, while Calvin's doctrine of
717:, and how many people seek relief by relinquishing freedom. He describes how authoritarianism can be a mechanism of escape, with special emphasis on the
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940:. New York: Continuum. pp. 169, 173.
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120:Learn how and when to remove this message
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838:guise of a person or an abstract idea.
858:, which is likely to provoke anxiety.
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58:adding citations to reliable sources
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578:Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory
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774:and the emancipation from it the
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338:Age of Mechanical Reproduction
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978:Farrar & Rinehart books
863:Freedom in the 20th century
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710:Die Angst vor der Freiheit
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264:Dialectic of Enlightenment
144:Cover of the first edition
515:Communicative rationality
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27:1941 book by Erich Fromm
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689:Farrar & Rinehart
628:Philosophy portal
313:Reason and Revolution
278:Eros and Civilization
182:Farrar & Rinehart
69:"Escape from Freedom"
993:Works by Erich Fromm
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54:improve this article
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761:is to submit to an
700:The Fear of Freedom
694:Escape from Freedom
680:Escape from Freedom
535:Legitimation crisis
505:Advanced capitalism
306:One-Dimensional Man
299:Negative Dialectics
285:Escape from Freedom
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870:National Socialism
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640:Society portal
499:Important concepts
852:normative beliefs
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351:Notable theorists
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52:Please help
47:verification
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848:Conformity:
818:determinism
685:Erich Fromm
598:Reification
593:Recognition
477:Sohn-Rethel
422:Kirchheimer
257:Major works
154:Erich Fromm
962:Categories
923:References
875:Mein Kampf
776:antithesis
715:alienation
402:Horkheimer
80:newspapers
884:democracy
780:synthesis
768:dialectic
703:in UK by
555:Privatism
530:Dialectic
437:Löwenthal
427:Kompridis
178:Publisher
110:July 2007
894:See also
447:McCarthy
432:Kuhlmann
417:Kracauer
392:Habermas
382:Grünberg
367:Benjamin
232:a series
230:Part of
160:Language
888:freedom
725:Summary
487:Wingert
482:Wellmer
472:Schmidt
467:Pollock
457:Neumann
442:Marcuse
397:Honneth
168:Subject
163:English
94:scholar
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805:Luther
801:Calvin
778:. The
772:thesis
748:Sartre
550:Praxis
407:Jaeggi
357:Adorno
234:on the
150:Author
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412:Kluge
387:Geuss
377:Forst
372:Fromm
206:Pages
101:JSTOR
87:books
942:ISBN
886:and
803:and
462:Offe
452:Negt
362:Apel
215:ISBN
193:1941
73:news
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209:257
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