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Erich Fromm

The Sane Society Paperback – October 15, 1990

by Erich Fromm (Author)

131 ratings

Part of: International Library of Sociology (321 books)

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The Sane Society is a continuation and extension of the brilliant psychiatric concepts Erich Fromm first formulated in Escape from Freedom; it is also, in many ways, an answer to Freud's Civilization and its Discontents.

Fromm examines man's escape into overconformity and the danger of robotism in contemporary industrial society: modern humanity has, he maintains, been alienated from the world of their own creation. Here Fromm offers a complete and systematic exploration of his "humanistic psychoanalysis." In so doing, he counters the profound pessimism for our future that Freud expressed and sets forth the goals of a society in which the emphasis is on each person and on the social measures designed to further function as a responsible individual.

Print length

384 pages
Language

English
Publication date

October 15, 1990
Dimensions

5.55 x 1.03 x 8.26 inches
ISBN-10

0805014020
ISBN-13

978-0805014020
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“A distinguished contribution to a growing body of social psychological reflections on modern times.” ―The Washington Post

“One is fascinated page after page by the incisiveness of the analysis, the concreteness of the presentation, and the beauty of the style.” ―Paul Tillich

“A courageous book with a high moral objective...an unflinching indictment of contemporary society.” ―Guide to Psychiatric and Psychological Literature

About the Author

Erich Fromm was a German-born American psychoanalyst and social philosopher who explored the interaction between psychology and society. His works include The Art of Loving, Escape from Freedom, and The Sane Society. He died in 1980.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Holt Paperbacks; Reissue edition (October 15, 1990)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0805014020
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0805014020
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.55 x 1.03 x 8.26 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #364,363 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #41 in Humanistic Psychology (Books)
- #243 in Radical Political Thought
- #2,888 in Political Science (Books)

Customer Reviews:
131 ratings

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Erich Fromm

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Erich Seligmann Fromm (German: [fʀɔm]; March 23, 1900 – March 18, 1980) was a German social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Arturo Espinosa [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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5 star		75%
4 star		15%
3 star		8%
2 star		1%
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Walter Stanley

Society Has Not Yet Benefitted From Fromm's Insights

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2016

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I read THE SANE SOCIETY when I was 23, and it was possibly the most influential book I ever read. At that time, I had just had the epiphanic realization that society is insane. I have never changed my mind about that, though I've learned to live with it less uncomfortably. I thought that if people just read and paid attention to Erich Fromm we could straighten everything out. I have changed my mind about that, but still think it is an essential first step. The insanity of society does not seem like it should be incurable. It is a mental state rather than an organic defect.

Fromm spends a lot of time elaborating upon alienation of modern man. For most workers, this alienation is caused by the dissociation of their work from the purpose of that work. This is much more true for manual workers than professionals, though both are plagued by this. I became a school teacher because I'd seen how little education has to do with preparing people for life. "When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder that I can think at all," as Paul Simon sang. Any education which deserves the name should be about teaching people how to think, but that can't be done without threatening people's sense of piety or patriotism. Which are the very things which make people insane.

Fromm states that the messages of Moses, Christ, Muhammad, and Buddha (and perhaps even Marx?) are all essentially the same. This implies that there is an underlying objective Truth in the Universe that everyone should be capable of agreeing upon. That there should be criteria for deciding upon moral truths that all reasonable people could agree upon. If we were not alienated from our "true selves." So the purpose of organized religion is not to help us connect with the core of our being, which was the purpose of the teaching of these men, but to keep us divorced from ourselves. If this was indeed the purpose of our religious founders, (and this was my realization in my epiphanal moment), then it is true that religions are doing the opposite of what their founders had in mind.

On the other hand, I find the argument that Moses and Christ and Buddha had the same message difficult to swallow. Reading about Abraham, Job, Moses, and Samuel and so on was what originally made me hate religion. I see no wisdom, nor even sanity, in their stories. I wish someone could explain how it is possible to disagree with this perception.

69 people found this helpful

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ELN

Genius.

Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2018

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Erich Fromm is a genius. This is a great book to read before/after 'Escape From Freedom'.

5 people found this helpful

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P. Franzani

Excelent book .Pablo Franzani Florida USA

Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2007

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This book was written about 50 years ago and still up-to date, I just copied this small paragraph that give an idea about the core of Fromm message:" The western world have created a great material wealth more than any other society in the history of the human race. Yet we have managed to kill of millions of our population in an arrangement, which we call war. During these wars, every participant firmly believes that he was fighting in his self-defense, for his honor, or that he was backed up by God. The groups with whom one is at war are, often from one day to the next, looked upon as cruel irrational fiends whom one must defeat to save the world from evil. But a few years after the mutual slaughter is over the enemies of yesterday are our friends, the friend s of yesterday our enemies, and again in full seriousness we begin to paint them with appropriate colors of black and white. "
Fromm message is a one that should be heard by all human beings: love between neighbors , love in societies , countries and nations, is the only solution.
Love.

16 people found this helpful

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Tony R.

Highly recommended

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2017

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Fromm is quite an enlightened psychologist/sociologist. This is a great read on understanding the cultural cancer of alienation as well as is basis saying back from the economic beginnings of capitalism.

One person found this helpful

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Constance Benson

Correctly delivered after all!

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2021

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This was CORRECTLY delivered!! (Made a mistake to say it was not.)

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2016

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Can you be sane if you question your own sanity? Can you be sane if you do NOT question your own sanity? Can you be sane in an insane society? Fromm's observations are as valid today as they were on the day he published.

4 people found this helpful

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Myrna C

people and things

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2013

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Yet another author who describes the alienating troubles of capitalism. Roger Waters's "The Wall" was one of the best pieces of work that explains the same thing in visual format; It would be illuminating if Waters read this work before he created this film.

2 people found this helpful

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Dale Medley

A recipe for what might have been

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2020

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Takes me back to optimistic times

One person found this helpful

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elephvant

Wise and Important

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2013

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I originally read this book several years ago after my flatmates rescued a tattered 1970s edition from a wheelie bin in Edinburgh. From the opening paragraphs it gripped me almost like a novel and I am so pleased there is now an edition on Kindle so that I can take it with me everywhere.

The text itself is a classic. In it Fromm explains several ways in which modern, western society operates in a fashion that could be legitimately claimed to be 'insane' (and even, on occasion, 'pathological'). Despite the apparent strength of this claim, this is not, fortunately, another flaming tirade about the corruption and ills of modern society, but rather a careful and considered analysis from a leading psychoanalyst of his day. It is also notable for being one of the rare instances where such a book dares to propose solutions as well as simply identifying problems.

Fromm's style of writing is also praiseworthy. For the general reader this is most definitely an academic book filled with challenging concepts and ideas, but Fromm (most of the time) manages to engage the reader without ever slipping into the light and familiar tone of so many pop-psychology books published today. He treats the reader as neither an expert nor an idiot, but as what his book tells us man should be: a thoughtful and curious creature, engaged with his world and surroundings.

9 people found this helpful

Reader

Good book - provides insights into evolution of man and society

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2017

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The writer takes you through the evolution of man and his character. The writer also discusses various political systems and there impact on man and vice versa. I liked most of what i read as it helps to understand the reasons of why man acts the way he does. What is fascinating is that lot of points are relevant even today. The book is a good read for someone interested in learning about the growth of man esp in 19th and 20th century and the society along with him.

One person found this helpful

Ms. R. I. Brewer

brilliant and though provoking.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2014

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I have been a fan of Erich Fromm almost since I could read. He writes in a clear easy to follow style but leads you to understand complex relationships and social connections and how they impact on individual feelings of self worth.

One person found this helpful

Daffy Bibliophile

Building a Sane Society

Reviewed in Canada on December 13, 2013

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On the back cover it states that this book belongs in the psychology section of your local bookstore. To me it seems that it belongs more in the sociology or perhaps social-psychology section. Fromm's book does deal with psychology but from a societal perspective and that is what gives it its importance.

Fromm zeroes in on the bureaucratization which develops in any technological society, whether in the capitalist West or in the Soviet Union. This bureaucratization is the main reason for the alienation that individuals feel. In the West we live in a mass society which requires that we are obedient, yet believe ourselves to be free, that we can be persuaded that we want more of anything and everything that is offered on the almighty Market, yet still believe that we are acting of our own free will and that we are good team players and can conform completely while at the same time believing that we are individuals above all else. Is it any wonder that we feel anxious, stressful, perhaps even a little nuts?

Fromm does offer some solutions and he leaves the door open to various options. He states that he is a socialist and that is the basis for his critique of modern society. He states unequivocally that the Soviet Union should not in any way be considered a socialist society; if anything he believed that the working conditions in Stalinist Russia resembled those of early Western capitalist societies with workers subject to overwork, poverty and ruthless exploitation.
Erich Fromm's solutions were based on a Humanistic approach which was diametrically opposed to the exploitation and mind-numbing tedium which he saw in both East and West. The development of a society on a Human scale was what Fromm wanted, a sane society.

This book is definitely worth reading despite being published in 1955 and I wonder what Fromm would have made of our current hyper-capitalist system that seems even more inhuman and inhumane than the system the West had in the 1950s. Are we progressing? Regressing? Going in circles? Almost sixty years after the publication of "The Sane Society" are we any less insane?

4 people found this helpful

Hilde Creve follman

Claridad !

Reviewed in Spain on October 6, 2017

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Fromm analiza Todos los sistemas políticas que han existido y los que están o tendrían que venir .
Un monumento !
Recomendable para tod@s l@s que se atreven de profundizar en los problemas sociales , culturales y económicos .
Gracias!

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