The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness

Erich Fromm

Feb 2013 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

A study of aggression from the renowned social psychologist and New York Times–bestselling author of The Art of Loving and Escape from Freedom.
Throughout history, humans have shown an incredible talent for destruction as well as creation. Aggression has driven us to great heights and brutal lows. In The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, renowned social psychologist Erich Fromm discusses the differences between forms of aggression typical for animals and two very specific forms of destructiveness that can only be found in human beings: sadism and necrophilic destructiveness. His case studies span zoo animals, necrophiliacs, and the psychobiographies of notorious figures such as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Through his broad scholarship, Fromm offers a comprehensive exploration of the human impulse for violence. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erich Fromm including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.

Ratings and reviews

Started, but couldn't finish. Not because it's dated, but because it's making no points. Even assuming all things about which he is wrong about animal nature are innocent ignorance, it reads is as an ad hominem against Lorenz for comparing man to animal. Yes, Lorenz had some spurious logical conclusions and did only provide half the picture, but Fromm provides nothing. Instinctivists Freud and Lorenz were not at all wrong, they were only half-right. Fromm can only disprove through blatant logical fallacy.

It's a bit hard to get through the critisism of Lorenz at the beginning of the book, but other than that every word is meaningful and the book is very well structured.

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