About the book
Erich Fromm, a psychoanalyst, explores how freedom for the individual can bring fear, anxiety and alienation, and the ways people try to escape it by giving it up, focusing on the social and psychological conditions that allowed Nazism to rise. Fromm separates freedom from, meaning release from restrictions imposed by others, and freedom to, the creative use of the whole personality, which he says requires real connection with others. A major chapter traces Protestant theology, reading the ideas of Luther and Calvin as responses to a freer economic situation after an old social order collapsed. Authoritarianism is presented as one mechanism of escape. In the UK the book appeared as The Fear of Freedom.
David Heinemeier Hansson, in his 2018 reading roundup, said it shows what happened to the human psyche in the passage from medieval caste society to modern life, as new freedoms cut people loose from safe, predictable roles.
We hope you love the books people recommend! Just so you know, The CEO Library may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page.
This book has 1 recommendation
David Heinemeier Hansson (Co-Founder/Basecamp)
Escape from Freedom examines what happened to the human psyche when we went from a medieval caste system to the modern world. As we gained freedom from all sorts of oppressions, we also got detached from a predictable and safe role in society. That anxiety is often difficult to cope with, especially when things don’t turn out the way we aspired to. Fromm argues that we need to balance this freedom from with just as much freedom to. Positive freedom, not just negative freedom.
The book was written in 1941 and obviously colored by the rise of fascism and the world wars. But it’s message is as timely today, in an age of populism and unease. It draws a compelling connection between the loss of identity and belonging with the appeal of authoritarian figures. That it’s a human response to turn away from freedom when that freedom turns life into anxiety and disappointment. So from Trump to Erdogan, there’s strong public support.
Get this book on Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books