The Fromm-Marcuse Debate Revisited
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Marxism in the Works of Erich Fromm and the Crisis of Socialism Enzo
Propriety of the Erich Fromm Document Center. For personal use only. Citation or publication of mate- rial prohibited without express written permission of the copyright holder. Eigentum des Erich Fromm Dokumentationszentrums. Nutzung nur für persönliche Zwecke. Veröffentli- chungen – auch von Teilen – bedürfen der schriftlichen Erlaubnis des Rechteinhabers. Marxism in the Works of Erich Fromm and the Crisis of Socialism Enzo Lio Paper presented as a first draft on the seminar of the International Erich Fromm Society on Charac- ter Structure and Society, Janus Pannonius University, Pécs/Hungary, August 24-26, 1990. - First published in the Yearbook of the International Erich Fromm Society, Vol. 2: Erich Fromm und die Kritische Theorie, Münster: LIT-Verlag, 1991, pp. 250-264. Copyright © 1991 and 2011 by Dr. Enzo Lio, Vicolo Quartirolo 5, I-40121 Bologna, Italy; E-Mail: en- zo.lio[at-symbol]@tele2.it. - Translation from Italian by Susan Garton, Bologna. 1. Introduction che is the product of the collective life history of humankind. This constitutes a scientifically valid The crisis of socialism, in the light of the histori- approach within the tradition of humanistic cal events that have provoked its downfall in thought insofar as, by using modern and effi- Eastern Europe, had already been discussed in cient scientific tools (psychoanalysis and the so- our Fromm Institute in Bologna, at the end of cial sciences) a closer and deeper investigation of 1989. Romano Biancoli maintained that Fromm the needs and motivations of human beings is had been proved right in his vision of Marxism possible. and of real socialism. I realized that, if Fromm The starting point for Fromm’s research is were still alive he would not be surprised by this precisely this, the search for the real and deep turn of events, which he hopes for in all his motives behind human action. -
Reichman on Linden, 'Western Marxism and the Soviet Union: a Survey of Critial Theories and Debates Since 1917'
H-Russia Reichman on Linden, 'Western Marxism and the Soviet Union: A Survey of Critial Theories and Debates since 1917' Review published on Monday, November 10, 2008 Marcel van der Linden. Western Marxism and the Soviet Union: A Survey of Critial Theories and Debates since 1917. Leiden: Brill, 2007. ix + 380 pp. $139.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-90-04-15875-7. Reviewed by Henry Reichman Published on H-Russia (November, 2008) Commissioned by Nellie H. Ohr A Fading Tradition This is a revised, corrected, updated, and expanded version of a work that began as a PhD dissertation and was originally published in Dutch in 1989 and again in German in 1992. Marcel van der Linden, a labor historian at Amsterdam University and executive editor of theInternational Review of Social History, summarizes an extraordinarily broad range of Western Marxist thinkers in an effort to understand how Marxists who were politically independent of the Soviet Union "theoretically interpreted developments in the Soviet Union" (p. 4). Noting that "in the history of ideas Marxist theories have not received the attention they deserve" (p. 2) and that "the 'Russian Question' was an absolutely central problem for Marxism in the twentieth century" (p. 1), van der Linden seeks simultaneously to shed light on both the Soviet experience and "the historical development of Marxist thought" (p. 1), succeeding perhaps more in the latter goal than the former. The book opens with a brief introduction, which postulates that the development of Western Marxist thinking about the Soviet Union was shaped by three "contextual clusters:" 1) "The general theory of the forms of society (modes of production) and their succession" adopted by differing Marxist thinkers; 2) the changing "perception of stability and dynamism of Western capitalism"; and 3) the various ways "in which the stability and dynamism of Soviet society was perceived" (pp. -
The Radical Infatuation with Western Marxism Or La Belle Dame Sans Merci?
Canadian Journal of Social and Political Theory/Revue canadienne de theorie politique et sociale , Vol. 6, No. 3 (Fall/Automne, 1982) . THE RADICAL INFATUATION WITH WESTERN MARXISM OR LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI? Rosaire Langlois Russell Jacoby, Dialectic of Defeat: Contours of Western Marxism, Cambridge University Press, 1981, p. X+202 One of the more striking characteristics of the re-orientation of social and political theory during the past fifteen years or so, has been the resurgence of interest in various types of Marxist theory.' Old theorists were rehabilitated- among them Lukacs and Gramsci-and new thinkers were embraced-notably, Althusser and Habermas . The old faith took on new trappings . This second coming of Marxism bore little resemblance to the old-fashioned version. The very foundations of classical Marxism-for example, the stress on the role of the economy and technology on the organization of social life-were cast aside with a corresponding exaltation of the role of the autonomous human subject . Innocent bystanders could be forgiven for wondering whether the uniqueness and perhaps even the coherence of Marxism had not been compromised altogether . The latest work of Russell Jacoby, while not intended as an encyclopaedic survey of all the theorists and issues within the "Western Marxist" tradition, attempts a partial stocktaking and affords an opportunity for a tentative assessment of the approach .z Jacoby writes as both scholar and passionate partisan. Not all, however, will share his continued enthusiasm. The Dialectic ofDefeat is, at one level, a work of intellectual history. As such, it is a quite interesting and significant effort . -
8. Erich Fromm's Social-Psychological
RUDOLF SIEBERT 8. ERICH FROMM’S SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY OF RELIGION Toward the X-Experience and the City of Being INTRODUCTION1 This essay explores Erich Fromm’s social-psychological theory of religion, as X- experience and longing for the City of Being, as being informed by the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, Meister Eckhart as well as Georg W.F Hegel, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud. Its religious attitude constituted the very dynamic of Fromm’s writings, as well as of those of the other critical theorists of society, e.g. Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Leo Loewenthal, Herbert Marcuse, etc., It united them. It could only be expressed in poetical symbols: the X-experience; or the longing for the imageless, nameless, notionless utterly Other than the horror and terror of nature and history; or the yearning for perfect justice and unconditional love: that the murderer may not triumph over the innocent victim, at least not ultimately. Man begins to become man only with the awakening of this longing for the entirely Other, or the X-experience. This religious attitude aims as idology at the destruction of all idolatry. In the Near East –––––––––––––– 1 Editors’ note-The author’s use of Fromm’s concept of “x-experience” comes from this passage in his work: What we call the religious attitude is an x that is expressible only in poetic and visual symbols. This x experience has been articulated in various concepts which have varied in accordance with the social organization of a particular cultural period. In the Near East, x was expressed in the concept of a supreme tribal chief, or king, and thus „God” became the supreme concept of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which were rooted in the social structures of that area. -
Wilhelm Reich's Character Analysis in Its Historical Context
Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 1985 Wilhelm Reich's Character analysis in its historical context R. Daniel McCauley Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Intellectual History Commons, and the Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation McCauley, R. Daniel, "Wilhelm Reich's Character analysis in its historical context" (1985). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 3593. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.5477 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. I AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF R. Daniel McCauley for the Master of Arts in History presented December 4, 1985. Title: Wilhelm Reich's Character Analysis in its Historical Context. APPROVED BY MEMBERS OF THE THESIS COMMITTEE: Go(°.j~ Dodds The thesis is an attempt to reconcile contradictions and devise historical meaning from a problematic text. The book is Wilhelm Reich's Character Analysis, first published in 1933. This influential psychoanalytic work embodies both a radical social theory and disturbing authoritarian attitudes. The thesis uses a variety of methodologies, in particular Roland Barthes' techniques for ascribing 2 historical meaning to certain formal qualities of writing. The thesis proceeds from a summary of methodological studies in intellectual history and criticism, including those of I. A. Richards, R. G. Collingwood, and Dominick LaCapra, as well as Barthes, to a description of Character Analysis and its various historical contexts - biographical, social, and intellectual. -
(REICHIAN) THERAPY by Neil Schierholz Psyd
TOWARD A PATIENT-CENTERED UNDERSTANDING OF ORGONOMIC (REICHIAN) THERAPY by Neil Schierholz PsyD San Francisco, California Copyright © 2011 by Neil Schierholz PsyD Los Angeles (310) 866-0440 San Francisco (415) 821-2345 [email protected] Abstract THIS STUDY EXPLORES the experience of patients who have been treated with orgonomic (Reichian) therapy. The purpose of this study is to shed light on the experience of undergoing this therapy from the perspective of patients who benefited from it. A brief history of Reich and his theory and practice of orgonomic therapy is chronicled along with clinical and autobiographical accounts of treatment cases. Seven current or former patients who have been treated with and benefited from orgonomic therapy were interviewed using a qualitative, heuristic method yielding rich experience-near descriptions of the subjective experience, conscious and unconscious meanings, and functions/experience of orgonomic therapy. Interview data were inductively coded producing individual depictions for each research participant, a composite depiction, and six core themes of the experience: (a) entry into orgonomic therapy, (b) orgonomic therapist attributes, (c) orgonomic biopsychotherapy, (d) experience of the therapeutic process, (e) therapeutic results, (f) thoughts and feelings about orgonomic therapy. The results are consistent with Reich’s theory and practice of orgonomic therapy and provide a broader, deeper, and richer understanding of the patient experience directly from the aggregate voices of those who have experienced and benefited from it first-hand. The results also indicate that patients who are treated with and benefit from orgonomic therapy feel innately and intuitively drawn to it. Clinical implications are offered along with recommendations for future study. -
The Indispensability of Erich Fromm
The Indispensability of Erich Fromm: The Rehabilitation of a "Forgotten" Psychoanalyst Erich Fromm Lecture – International Psychoanalytic University Berlin, October 13, 2016 Peter L. Rudnytsky "Some human beings affect you so deeply that your life is forever changed." – Gérard D. Khoury, "A Crucial Encounter" "Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it. ... It is simply a question of which side one takes and what approach one follows." – George Orwell, "Why I Write" his unjustly tarnished reputation, whose dedi- 1 cated participants include Marco Bacciaga- luppi and Ferenc Erős and that owes every- It always begins for me with an act of reading. thing to Rainer Funk, Fromm’s literary execu- Winnicott’s Playing and Reality (1971), tor and supremely faithful custodian of his Ferenczi’s Clinical Diary (Dupont, 1985), legacy. Groddeck’s Book of the It (1923), Nina Col- tart’s "Slouching towards Bethlehem" (1986), The more I immersed myself in Fromm, the or – to go back to the beginning – Ernest more I was struck by how much my long- Jones’s (1953-1957) biography of Freud and, standing concerns have overlapped with his even before that, Norman O. Brown’s Life and how much I would have benefited had I Against Death (1959): all these have been, for heeded his writings sooner. Shortly before me, life-changing experiences, the most pas- beginning this odyssey, I had published an sionate love affairs in my lifelong romance essay (Rudnytsky, 2014) comparing Freud to with psychoanalysis. -
The Transference in the Humanist Perspective of Erich Fromm Jorge
Publikation des Erich-Fromm-Archivs, Tübingen Publication of the Erich Fromm Archive, Tuebingen, Germany Copyright © beim Autor / by the author The Transference in the Humanist Perspective of Erich Fromm Jorge Silva García Paper presented at the Hospital Central Militar in Mexico City on June 21st, 1991. Copyright © 1991 and 2009 by Dr. Jorge Silva García, Joaquín Romo 171, Tlalpan, México, D.F. 14410, México, E-Mail: jsilvag82[at-symbol]prodigy.net.mx. Fromm states (1979 p. 38): flict is his fear of aloneness, often lived as a ceas- “Another crucial concept in Freud's system ing to be, as not being. is that of transference first observed it in the "The transference phenomenon, namely the Case of Anna O. (Breuer and Freud 1893, voluntary dependence of a person on an- and Freud 1910). This concept was the re- other person in authority, because he/she sult of the clinical observation that analy- feels helpless, in need of a leader, of a sands develop a strong tie to the person of strong authority and is ready to submit to the analyst during the treatment. This tie this authority, is one of the most important could of times be love, admiration, attach- phenomena in social life, quite beyond the ment and, at others, a blending of hate, individual family and the analytic situation. opposition and aggression”. Anybody who is willing to see can discover “What makes this transference particu- the tremendous role that transference plays larly interesting is that it grows out of the socially, politically and in religious life. One therapeutic situation rather than out of the has only to look at the faces in a crowd that qualities of the analyst. -
Psychoanalysis and Social Theory - Anthony Elliott
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS AND THEORETICAL APPROACHES IN SOCIOLOGY - Vol. I - Psychoanalysis and Social Theory - Anthony Elliott PSYCHOANALYSIS AND SOCIAL THEORY Anthony Elliott Flinders University, Australia Keywords: Conscious, unconscious, the decentred subject, "de-psychologization" of the subject, narcissism. utopic dimension, repression, repetition, negativity, repression, drives, representation, trauma, narcissism, denial, displacement: selfhood the Oedipus complex, Frankfurt School, "post-psychological individual", fascism, totalitarian societies, repression- "basic" and "surplus" ,"repressive desublimation” Contents 1. Introduction 2. Freud and the Interpretation of the Social 2.1 Human Subjectivity 2.2 Social Analysis 2.3 Epistemology. 3. The Legacy of Freud 4. Psychopathologies of Rationality: The Frankfurt School 4.1 Erich Fromm 4.2 Herbert Marcuse 5. Contemporary Critical Theory: Habermas's Reading of Freud and the Theorem of Distorted Communication 6. Returning to Freud: Jacques Lacan 7. Advantages and Limitations of Lacan's Theory 8. Lacanian and Post-Lacanian Contexts 9. Feminist Psychoanalytic Criticism 10. Psychoanalysis and Postmodern Theory Acknowledgement Glossary Bibliography Biographical Sketch Summary Social theory has the task of providing conceptions of the nature of human agency, social UNESCOlife and the cultural products of human– actionEOLSS which can be placed in the services of the social sciences and humanities in general. Among other problems, social theory is concerned with language and the interpretation of meaning, the character of social institutions, theSAMPLE explication of social practices CHAPTERS and processes, questions of social transformation and the like. The reproduction of social life, however, is never only a matter of impersonal "processes" and "structures": it is also created and lived within, in the depths of an inner world, of our most personal needs, passions and desires. -
Gestalt Therapy Allen Richard Barlow University of Wollongong
University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 1983 The derivation of a psychological theory: Gestalt therapy Allen Richard Barlow University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Barlow, Allen Richard, The derivation of a psychological theory: Gestalt therapy, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Department of Psychology, University of Wollongong, 1983. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/1685 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] THE DERIVATION OF A PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY : GESTALT THERAPY A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of » DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY from THE UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG by ALLEN RICHARD BARLOW, B.A. (Hons.l) DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY (1983) -i- TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Tables xiv Acknowledgements xv xvi Abstract xvii CHAPTER 1: Introduction 1.1 The aim of this dissertation 1 1.2 Principles of Gestalt therapy 7 CHAPTER 2: Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis 2.1 Biography 12 2.2 Difficulties in comparing Freud's and Perls' works 13 2. 3 Freud ' s influence on Perls 16 2.4 Structure of the personality 20 2.4.1 Relationship between the three subsystems 22 2.5 Conscious/unconscious 24 2.6 Instincts 28 2. 7 Defence mechanism; 30 2.7.1 Regression 31 2.7.2 Repression 32 2.7.3 Reaction-formation 33 2.7.4 Introj ection 34 2.7.5 Proj ection , 35 2.7.6 Turning against the self (retroflection) 36 2.7.7 Rationalization 37 2.7.8 Denial 37 2.7.9 Identification 38 2. -
Introduction and Background: Dreamwork/Bodywork
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND: DREAMWORK/BODYWORK Jean Campbell In a time before psychological trauma was defined as an area of study, German psychiatrist, Wilhelm Reich, M.D., wrote in his seminal volume Character Analysis in 1933: “We can conceive of the character of the ego—perhaps the Freudian ego in general—as an armor protecting the id against the stimuli of the outer world. In this sense, the ego is a structural agent. By character, we mean here not only the outward form of this agent, but also the sum total of all that the ego shapes in the way of typical modes of reaction, i.e., modes of reaction characteristic of one specific personality. By character, in short, we mean an essentially dynamically determined factor manifested in a person’s characteristic demeanor: walk, facial expression, stance, manner of speech, and other modes of behavior.” ( Character Analysis , 190-191) With these words, Reich defined an approach to psychotherapy which takes into account the changing dynamics of the body in relation to stress such as psychological trauma. “Reich approached the study of character,” says Alexander Lowen, M.D. in his 1958 book The Language of the Body , “not from theoretical considerations but as a practical problem in analytic technique. He did not isolate the traits, but he attempted to understand the character first in its role as a resistance to analytic interaction, and second to comprehend its function in the libido economy of the organism….” “It is important to recognize,” Lowen goes on, “that however we define the character it is the basic attitude with which the individual confronts life whether in the analytic session or in the external world. -
Theory in Weberian Marxism: Patterns of Critical Social
THEORY IN WEBERIAN MARXISM: PATTERNS OF CRITICAL SOCIAL THEORY IN LUKÁCS AND HABERMAS* Harry F. Dahms 1 ABSTRACT For Weberian Marxists, the social theories of Max Weber and Karl Marx are complementary contributions to the analysis of modern capitalist society. Combining Weber's theory of rationalization with Marx's critique of commodity fetishism to develop his own critique of reification, Georg Lukács contended that the combination of Marx's and Weber's social theories is essential to envisioning socially transformative modes of praxis in advanced capitalist society. By comparing Lukács's theory of reification with Habermas's theory of communicative action as two theories in the tradition of Weberian Marxism, I show how the prevailing mode of "doing theory" has shifted from Marx's critique of economic determinism to Weber s idea of the inner logic of social value spheres. Today, Weberian Marxism can make an important contribution to theoretical sociology by reconstituting itself as a framework for critically examining prevailing societal definitions of the rationalization imperatives specific to purposive-rational social value spheres (the economy, the administrative state, etc.). In a second step, Weberian Marxists would explore how these value spheres relate to each other and to value spheres that are open to the type of communicative rationalization characteristic of the lifeworld level of social organization. INTRODUCTION Since the early 1920s, the function of theory in Western Marxism has undergone a major transformation.1 So far manifesting itself as an increased willingness and ability in 2 modernist critical social theories to confront societal complexity, this change points toward a qualitatively different way of relating diverse social-theoretical projects to each other.