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Summary: A Classic of Humanisitc Philosophy
Review: Certainly Erich Fromm's best work, The Art of Loving summarizes the core aspects of Fromm's idea's on love and human nature. It would be incorrect to describe The Art of Loving or any of Fromm's work as scientific theories of human behavior. Rather, his work puts forth a complete philosophy of love and harmony that is at odds with the dominant scientific and technical philosophy that dominates post-Enlightenment Western thought. Drawing more on the humanistic and Marxist strain in Western thought, Fromm argues that love is a paradox. It is the union of two people who remain independent individuals. It is a situation where "two become one, and yet remain two". He contrasts this with the situation where one individual dominates the union (sadism, masochism), which he likens to the dominant-dependent love between parent and child. Whatever its philosophical origins, however, Fromm's ideas very simple and the book is very simply written and quite short. Of all the great philosophers, Fromm is by far the most accessible. All the better, because Fromm's central idea, that love is not the excitement of having a new lover, is not the asymmetric union of man over woman or woman over man, but rather that love is the union of two individuals who remain independent from one another, is an idea that modern society must discover.
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Summary: Amazing Book
Review: Great for the student psychologist, the practicing psychologist, retired psychologist and the lay reader!*****5 Star Book. I used this book in undergrad, grad school and now it lies on my desk at my private practice. Wonderful companion book. Also, read more of Fromm's books...they are all very insightful! Corrie, Gainesville, Florida
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Summary: Uninstructive book not based on concepts, and even off-topic
Review: I am not able to say that Erich Fromm's book The Art of Loving really is about the art of loving. The only important message I was able to digest is that loving is something you do, not something which happens to you. I do not follow how this book could be labeled as practical when it does not really contain any program at all, rather, it contains a lot of unwarranted criticism of modern society.
The book contains many easy to disprove statements. Also, Fromm does not bother to explain how he came to his conclusions - it's like a mathematical textbook that contains theorems and claims without any proofs or defitions. In other words, there are not many lines of reasoning to be found. All in all, I am disappointed with the quality of Fromm's thinking.
Rating: 
Summary: What is love?
Review: I have a better understanding of what love is after reading this book. In the modern society, people in general seem to know the meaning of love very well. Most think that love is simply a male and a female getting together happily, just as what they can usually see in the films. But I can tell you it is not so simple. Love is more than that! In the beginning of the book "The Art of Loving", Fromm first carries out several premises behind the attitude of people treating love. These are about the problem of how to be loved, the object to love as well as the confusion between the initial experience of falling in love and the permanent state of being in love, which has a great impact on me to think about what love is. Fromm then talks about the theory of love. It is really true that love is an activity. It is primarily giving, not receiving. Moreover, love is not just to a specific person, the "object" of love, but to the world as a whole. There are different kinds of love toward different objects: brotherly love, motherly love, erotic love, self-love and the love of god. All these will be covered in the book. And at last, Forrum puts these theories into practice. With the capacity to love our neighbor as well as true humility, courage, faith and discipline, the satisfaction in individual love can surely be attained. In the "polluted" world, love is indispensable. We should try most actively to develop our total personality, in order to achieve a productive orientation. "Love thy neighbor as thyself". It is appreciated that Forumm tries to use non-technical language to avoid unnecessary complications. Still, there are some areas that are difficult for me to understand. Besides, it focuses much on the theory, making it a little bit boring. Overall, the book is worth reading. How can I know if the theory works? Put it into practice!
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Summary: Read it, then give a copy to the people you care about
Review: I have reread this book more than any other that I own, partly because it's short, but mostly because Fromm is such a lucid and perceptive writer. I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough. I don't agree with all of it -- his take on homosexuality, for instance, which may or may not be attributable to the day in which it was written -- and many readers may not care for the way he frames behavioral patterns in psychoanalytic terms. That said, you can read right past those stylistic elements, because his prose is positively oozing with compassion. I don't think it's overly dramatic to say that it would take me longer to convey how excellent this little book is than it would take you to read it.
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Summary: Responsible love
Review: I remember reading this work in my teenage years. It made a great impression on me then. One of Fromm's points is that we cannot really love others unless we love ourselves. This went against the notion I had at the time that ' self- love' meant ' selfishness only, and that one had to choose between loving oneself and loving another. I think Fromm's point here is a deep and true one.
Another important point Fromm made is connecting love with responsibility, care and concern. In other words as a young person there was a tendency to think that love is simply a ' romantic feeling' Fromm broadened the conception of ' love' I had. And this too through indicating that there are different kinds of love, depending upon the kind of relationship it is.
Fromm also, and this is another important point gave the sense that it is ' right to love' and that ' love is not a sin'. He gave a sense that love is an essential part of a meaningful life, and something each and every one of us is capable of.
His connecting love with truly understanding and caring for ' the other' is another major point. So instead of the instinctually driven, fundamentally sinful view of Man given by Fromm's teacher Freud , Fromm presents us with a fundamentally positive view of human nature and its capacities. This is an especially wonderful book for young people. It can give hope and strength to help them make better lives for themselves and those they love and are loved by.
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Summary: A Mature understanding of Love
Review: In our society we seem bent on creating for ouselves the ideal life,that the material world has developed into a culture.Along
with this comes our ideal of what Love is and who we will endow with it,the perfect match,having assimilated all that is desireable in our culture.No wonder so many marriages fail.
Fromm exposes all of this,and some point out quite correctly that there is little said of the practice of Love.This is because
Love is a disposition of the heart through a realisation or revelation.It cannot be switched on by any prescribed means.Once it is switched on,it cannot be switched off,because things now appear as they really are and all the allure of power and money fall to pieces.We begin to live not for ourselves but for others.
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Summary: Insightful
Review: The presentation of this book is clearly still applicable to this day, which is a testament to the quality of the book. Fromm takes an insightful approach in explaining the purest parts of life, in primary focus, of course, is love. The book takes regard to brotherly love, motherly love (fatherly love), love of God, love of the self, and erotic love. Take note that the book is not meant as a self-guide to love, but rather as a better understanding of the greatest joys in life. The book, also, takes a short time to explain different (disparaging) aspects of Western society - refer to Erich Fromm's The Sane Society for more emphasis on that subject.
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Summary: The Art of Greatness.
Review: The title for this book is very misleading as, in today's world, it conjures up images of Dr. Phil and Oprah. In fact, Dr. Fromm wrote an outstanding work about what it means to live a passionate, engaged existence. It's short and my copy is filled with two different kinds of ink from my circling at least 25 quotations over a couple of readings.
In order to love, we must appreciate, and in order to appreciate, we must know. A person without seriousness and focus is worthless. We must work and make the most out of the time that we are given.
As far as romantic love is concerned, Fromm was quite perceptive when he wrote that the lack of polarity between the sexes meant the death of love. In order for men and women to have harmonious relationships, they cannot be exactly the same. Without "viva la difference" there can be no eros.
The first time I read The Art of Loving I did not fully comprehend the Marxist bend to Dr. Fromm's criticism. Now I do unfortunately. It is a distraction but it in no way undermine's the work's message. He was a member of the Frankfort School and they supplied us with the evil cancer that is political correctness, so it is rather predictable that a critique of capitalism is included in these pages. Fifty years have made these political asides and observations trite. If man is a cog in the capitalist machine what would he be in a bureaucratic socialistic one? Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao, and Castro teach us that under socialism man exists to be endlessly trampled by the heel of a boot (ala Orwell).
Regardless of politics, Fromm understands better than most commentators what we should be doing with our lives on this earth and I respect this work immensely. Fromm truly challenges the reader in the text and it is the thinking man's self-help guide. And unlike all of the garbage on tv and in the bookstore, is actually helpful.
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Summary: The art of real love.
Review: This book belongs on the life changers shelf in the bookstore. Because modern man is alienated from himself, from his fellow men, and from nature, we seek refuge from our aloneness in the concepts of love and marriage (pp. 79-81). However, psychologist and social philosopher, Erich Fromm (1900-1980), observes that real love "is not a sentiment which can be easily indulged in by anyone." It is only through developing one's total personality to the capacity of loving one's neighbor with "true humility, courage, faith and discipline" that one attains the capacity to experience real love. This should be considered a rare achievement (p. vii). The active character of true love, Fromm observes, involves the basic elements of care, responsibility, respect, and knowledge (p. 24). Readers will be disappointed if they approach this book as a how-to book. Rather, Fromm's 1956 classic is more of an exploration into the theories of brotherly love, motherly love, erotic love, self-love, and the love of God (pp. 7-76), and an insightful examination into love's disintegration in contemporary Western culture (pp. 77-98). We are starved for love, yet all our attempts to attain love in Western society are bound to fail. However, like art, Fromm observes that real love is possibile with discipline, concentration, patience, and a supreme concern for mastering love (pp. 99-123). For anyone interested in what it means to love, Fromm's book is a must read. G. Merritt
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