Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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60 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Process, not possession, March 18, 2005
To have or to be?
Well... to be, says Fromm.
In response to the materialism of our century and our propensity to reification, psychoanalyst Erich Fromm proposes a mode of living that he argues is the way out of our psychospiritual conundrum.
Within the pages of this book, one of the last before his demise, the author of the bestseller _ The Art of Loving_ describes the two modes possible--that of having and being. 20th century culture he says has developed into employing and relying on the having mode--of appropriating things and even humans for oneself. Even love has been turned into an object, when in fact no such thing exists. Only the act of loving is possible.
In contradistinction to having is being. It is a mode of active participation in life. While the misnomer 'falling in love' is touted by the world as the norm, Fromm argues that true loving is an effortful activity. While accumulating knowledge is the way of having, the being mode of knowing is a process of understanding.
Although written nearly three decades ago, Fromm's worldview continues to be the ideal. This work of his is a timeless caveat against the dehumanization of society.
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53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Powerful Spiritual Book, November 20, 1999
By A Customer
I have already read twice this book in the past three years and consider re-reading it again soon. It has become part of me; everyday I remember key sentences from the book which help me make sense of my own life, attitudes, and ideas. Two notions (a) the "being" way of life as opposed to "having", and (b) "matter is in constant flux" help me let go, relieving me of my attachment to things material. Paradoxically, they also give me the courage to experience life in a more proactive way, and to accept and appreciate life as it is without trying to force events. It's a truly spiritual and healing book.
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35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For serious reader, May 1, 2005
Fromm is one of the classics - along with Freud, Jung, Adler. He studied psychology, philosophy and sociology, received his PhD at the age of 22, became interested in Zen Buddhism at the age of 26. One of the true geniuses.
This book was written in 1976. Fromm debates that there are two possible modes of living: one of having and of being. He points out the differences between the two and of a person living in the having mode to the one living in the being mode. He shows the differences in behavior and attitude between the two in many life's areas and experiences: studying, remembering, talking, reading, faith, love, handling authority. The less you are oriented on having, the more you are being.
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