Erich Fromm

Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Erich Fromm’s career as a psychotherapist, academician, author of influential studies on individual and social psychology, peace activist and proponent of humanist socialism spanned five decades and two continents. With his popular writings Fromm reached out to millions of readers and probably touched more minds than any other sociologist or psychologist in the postwar years. Not only did he bring a bright awareness of the human condition to his readership, he fostered the notion of constructive dissent at a time when conformism overtook the West and dissent was stifled in the post-Stalinist East. Dissent was the propelling force in Fromm’s own thought: he distrusted orthodoxy in every incarnation as much as all intellectual and ideological “systems”. Much of his work is dedicated…

2288 words

Citation: Knapp, Gerhard P.. "Erich Fromm". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 November 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1643, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1643 Erich Fromm 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.