Erich Fromm

Mr. Roland Lorenzo M. Ruben

What is love? Many have attempted to define it with words,
pictures, music, but unfortunately its never truly been
described successfully these ways. Can it be described these
ways? I dont think so. Love is not meant to be described.
Its meant to be felt. Shared. Love Untitled is this idea in the
picture form. Love in its untitled or indescribable form. The
mystery of love.
Love Untitled
"Our main task is to give birth to ourselves." ~ Erich Fromm
Erich Pinchas Fromm (March 23, 1900
March 18, 1980) was an internationally
renowned German-American social
psychologist, psychoanalyst, and
humanistic philosopher. He was associated
with what became known as the Frankfurt
School of critical theory.
1900 born in Frankfurt, Germany His father was a
business man and, according to Erich, rather
moody. His mother was frequently depressed. In
other words, like quite a few of the people we've
looked at, his childhood wasn't very happy.
"Only the person who has faith in himself is able to be faithful to others."
1918 started his studies in at the University of Frankfurt am Main with
two semesters of jurisprudence.
1919 studied at the University of Heidelberg, where he switched from
studying jurisprudence to studying sociology under Alfred Weber
(brother of Max Weber), Karl Jaspers, and Heinrich Rickert.
1922 received his Ph.D. in sociology from Heidelberg and was trained to
become a psychoanalyst.
1927 began his own clinical practice
1930 joined the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research and completed
his psychoanalytical training. After the Nazi takeover of power in
Germany, the Jewish Fromm moved to Geneva
1934 moved to Columbia University in
New York. Karen Horney's long-term
infatuation with Fromm is the subject
of her book Self Analysis and it is
reasonable to believe that each had a
lasting influence on the other's
thought.
1943 After leaving Columbia, he helped
form the New York Branch of the
Washington School of Psychiatry
1945 formed the William Alanson White
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis,
and Psychology.
"In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two."
1950 moved to Mexico City, he became a professor at the
UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mexico)
and established a psychoanalytic section at the medical
school there. He taught at the UNAM until his
retirement in 1965.
1957 to 1961 taught as a professor of psychology at Michigan
State University
1962 taught as an adjunct professor of psychology at the
graduate division of Arts and Sciences at New York
University
1974 moved to Muralto, Switzerland
1980 died at his home, five days before his eightieth
birthday.
THE ANSWER TO
THE PROBLEM OF
HUMAN
EXISTENCE
Definition
Man is gifted with reason; he is life being aware of
itself
Aware of himself as a separate entity, short life span,
helplessness before the forces of nature and of society
The experience of separateness arouses anxiety
The deepest need of man is the need to overcome his
separateness, to leave the prison of his aloneness
HOW?? Overcome separateness, achieve union,
find at-onement
Attempts to answer the
problem
1. Orgiastic States - characteristics: intense, occur
in the total personality, transitory, periodical
auto-induced trance: drugs, alcohol
tribal rituals
sexual experience
2. Union based in Conformity (customs,
beliefs, practices)
a union in which the individual self disappears
to a large extent, and where the aim is to
belong to the herd
By trying desperately to conform, we sometimes will
even give up our lives in order to remain a part of our
group. But this is only pretend identity, an identity we
take from others.
When we need to hide, we hide in our mass culture
instead. When I get dressed in the morning, there are so
many decisions! But I only need to look at what you are
wearing, and my frustrations disappear. Or I can look at the
television, which, like a horoscope, will tell me quickly and
effectively what to do. If I look like, talk like, think like, feel
like... everyone else in my society, then I disappear into the
crowd, and I don't need to acknowledge my freedom or take
responsibility.
When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.
The person is like a social chameleon: He takes on
the coloring of his surroundings. Since he looks like a
million other people, he no longer feels alone. He
isn't alone, perhaps, but he's not himself either. He
experiences a split between his genuine feelings and
the colors he shows the world.
When conformity to the herd is the norm, it takes
outstanding bravery to remain an individual
3. Creative Activity
person unites himself with his material, which
represents the world outside of himself.
in all types of creative work the worker and his
object become one, man unites himself with the
world in the process of creation; however, such
unity is not interpersonal.

The unity achieved in
productive work is not
interpersonal;
the unity achieved in
orgiastic fusion is transitory;
the unity achieved by
conformity is only pseudo-
unity.
Hence, they are only partial
answers.
The full answer lies in the
achievement of
interpersonal union , of
fusion with another person,
in LOVE.
4. Love
interpersonal union, of fusion with another
person
problem: fusion can be achieved in different ways

THE MEANING OF LOVE
Immature form
I. Symbiotic union (biological & psychic)
Symbiosis is the relationship two organisms have who
cannot live without each other. example is the case where
the parent "swallows" the child, so that the child's
personality is merely a reflection of the parent's wishes.
II. Psychic symbiotic union
a. passive form = masochism: One is to submit to the
power of others, becoming passive and compliant
b. active form = sadism: Others look to eliminate their
isolation by dominating others
Either way, these are not satisfying: Your
separateness is not overcome.
Immature form
from the movie Basic Instinct
Mature form
Love is union under the condition of preserving
ones integrity, ones individuality.
Love is an active power in man; a power that
breaks through the walls which separate man
from his fellowmen, which unites him with
others
Love makes him overcome the sense of isolation
and separateness, yet it permits him to be
himself, to retain his integrity
Paradox: Two beings become one and
yet remain two

Love is an activity = a standing in not a
falling for; giving, not receiving
1. Knowledge it does not stay at the
periphery, but penetrates to the core
the only way of full knowledge lies in the act
of love: this act transcends thought, it
transcends words = it is the daring plunge into
the experience of union with the other
only if I know a human being objectively, can
I know him in his ultimate essence, in the act
of love
2. Respect (respicere = to look at) the ability
to see a person as he is, to be aware of his unique
individuality
the concern that the other person should grow and
unfold as he is; absence of exploitation
respect exists only on the basis of freedom: lamour
est lenfant de la libert (love is the child of
freedom)
3. Responsibility a voluntary act; my
response to the needs, expressed or
unexpressed, of another human being
to be responsible means to be able and ready
to respond
4. Care love is the active concern for the
life and the growth of that which we love
the essence of love is to labor for something
and to make something grow
e.g. mothers love for her child
Care, responsibility, respect and knowledge are
mutually interdependent. They are a syndrome of
attitudes which are to be found in the mature person.
"We are only capable of
knowing, and caring for
the other if we are also
capable of understanding,
caring, and knowing
ourselves"
"What matters in relation
to love is the faith in
one's own love; in its
ability to produce love in
others."
In the morning of my life
I shall look to the sunrise
At the moment in my life when the world is new
And the Blessing I shall ask is that God shall grant me
To be Brave and Strong and True
And to fill the world with love my whole life through.

Chorus: And to fill the world with love (x3)
My whole life through.

At the noontime of my life
I shall look at the sunshine
At the moment in my life when the sky is blue
And the Blessing I shall ask shall remain unchanging
To be Brave and Strong and True
And to fill the world with love my whole life through. (rep chorus)

In the evening of my life
I shall look to the sunset
At the moment in my life when my days are few
And the Question I shall ask only you can answer
Was I Brave and Strong and True?
Did I fill the world with love my whole life through? (rep chorus)
Erich Fromm
Mr. Roland Lorenzo M. Ruben
End of presentation
Thank you for your
time. I love you.