Beyond the Chains of Illusion: My Encounter with Marx and Freud

Erich Fromm

Mar 2013 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

Profound insights into Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud from the “prolific and eclectic” social theorist and bestselling author of Escape from Freedom (The Washington Post).
 According to renowned psychoanalyst Erich Fromm, three people shaped the essential character of the twentieth century: Albert Einstein, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud. While the first two figures had a great physical and political impact on the world, Fromm believes that Freud had an even deeper impact, because he changed how we think about ourselves. Beyond the Chains of Illusion is one of Fromm’s most autobiographical works, as Fromm not only comments on the ideas of Freud and Marx, but also crystallizes his own theories on social character and unconscious values. The book brilliantly summarizes Fromm’s ideas on how culture and society shape our behavior. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erich Fromm including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.   

About the author

DIVDIVErich Fromm (1900–1980) was a bestselling psychoanalyst and social philosopher whose views about alienation, love, and sanity in society—discussed in his books such as Escape from Freedom, The Art of Loving, The Sane Society, and To Have or To Be?—helped shape the landscape of psychology in the mid-twentieth century. Fromm was born in Frankfurt, Germany, to Jewish parents, and studied at the universities of Frankfurt, Heidelberg (where in 1922 he earned his doctorate in sociology), and Munich. In the 1930s, he was one of the most influential figures at the Frankfurt Institute of Social Research. In 1934, as the Nazis rose to power, he moved to the United States. He practiced psychoanalysis in both New York and Mexico City before moving to Switzerland in 1974, where he continued his work until his death. /div/div