The Conception of Man in the Philosophy of Erich Fromm

Abstract

Erich Fromm occupies a special place among the representatives of the Frankfurt School. Throughout nearly all of his creative life he systematically investigated the special problems of man from the standpoints of psychoanalysis, philosophical anthropology and social psychology. At the same time he is one of the most prominent advocates and "modifiers" of the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud. Fromm contributed a great deal, particularly in the period of his activity in the USA, to the conversion of this theory into a sociological doctrine. While still in Germany he received his philosophical baptism in the setting of the Frankfurt School, where he became acquainted with the works of Karl Marx.