The Sane Society

Rating:
Summary: No much change
Review: Although this book has been written almost 50 years ago it still provides basic insight into our behavior in the modern world. 'Money, prestige and power are the main incentives today for the largest section of our population - that which is employed'. This probably holds still today whereas some of the major concerns of the fifties are not concerning people any more. A book to read and think about!

Rating:
Summary: illuminating and insightful
Review: Erich Frommfs gThe Sane Societyh is one the most illuminating and insightful books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. In gThe Sane Societyh Fromm questions the sanity of a society which covets property over humanity and adheres to idolatrous theologies of submission and domination rather than self-actualization. Fromm provides readers with a scathing indictment of modern capitalism which, Fromm states, is the main source of the isolation and alienation prevalent in todayfs society. Fromm advocates communitarian socialism, which, he explains, expounds the humanitarian ideals and spiritual self-actualization needed to cure society of its religious and capitalistic ills.

Rating:
Summary: A brillian and creative analysis with possible solutions.
Review: I had heard of Erich Fromm for some time but had not read any of his work and then decided I should have a look and see what all the fuss was about. To say the least Fromm does an excellent job of attempting a critique of modern society whether it be western capitalism or eastern communism. He considers the question: is current society sane ? He concludes no and pushes aside the claims of most psychologists that a sane member of society is one who can adjust himself/herself to it. Naturally such a claim means that society itself must be sane. Fromm instead supposes that there are other more objective measures of sanity than the society one is a part of. Such measures were considered by Freud early in the 20th century and led to his idea of the libido which unless satisfied produces insanity and neuroses. Fromm himself studied under Freud in psychoanalysis but came to the conclusion that Freud's ideas, although basically correct in their aims, incorrectly based all of man's behaviour on the libido.

Instead Fromm analyses current society, circa 1950's, on the basis of human nature which arises from the human condition, his whole existence. Fromm finds that man has, over the centuries, removed himself from nature (the metaphor of the expulsion from the Garden of Eden) which formed for him the womb and the spiritual connection needed by him. Instead man developed his own world which was formed through the creation of villages and towns and agriculture and some independence from nature as the provider and sustainer. The eventual extreme aspects of this alienation are found in both communism and capitalism as seen today where the individual no longer feels a relatedness to others in the society, an alienation which itself can lead to insanity. The fact that people are capital and not "people" anymore and that their work becomes capital as well which can be interchanged with other forms of capital which have no human base produces ill health and a mentally ill society. This also applies to communism except with the addition of enforced governmental structures. Fromm notes how sanity can only be achieved through changes in all aspects of the human condition at once rather than piecemeal attempts. That is his economical, political, spiritual and social needs must be satisfied at the same time. He contrasts earlier centuries to the modern one and how a capitalistic view imposes uniformity even under the illusion of individuality.

From attempts some way out of this crisis through what he calls "communitarian socialism" which applies directly and concretely to an individual's present circumstances. Fromm is widely read and never forgets to note the important authors who led the way before him. Similarly he is knowledgable in surveys and studies over the years concerning attempts at an improvement of the human condition applied in industry by others. It is the satisfaction of human needs in the present circumstances which lie on the road to a better society not who controls the means of production.

Unfortunately after a detailed and brilliant analysis of society Fromm does not spend anywhere near the same amount of time in the resolution of its problems. In the second last chapter, about 70 pages of a total of 360, he attempts it. One feels that he never quite finished this chapter and that he had much more to say, or rather there was much he mentioned briefly but did not analyse deeply enough. He did not discuss the problems which could arise in these solutions as they are implemented. This is disappointing.

Nonetheless, simply for a deep and insightful analysis of society and human nature Fromm cannot be faulted. The book is a must read for these reasons alone. It is unfortunate his ideas were never put into practice. Society continues in its march towards insanity as the capitalist ideal is approached and people are more and more dehumanised. No wonder such massive problems exist.

Rating:
Summary: An indictment of our society
Review: I have never found any author who has a firmer grasp on the human condition than Erich Fromm. Chapter 3 of The Sane Society is a masterpiece in describing what it means to be human and why we are foolish to expect never to be anxious and always to be happy and smiling. This book is an excellent analysis of the situation of modern man and frightening in that the characteristics Fromm cites have become even more ingrained in us. His thesis is that we are inherently anxious due to our consciousness. Unlike animals who have instincts to script their lives from start to finish, we are free to determine ourselves and this freedom without anyone/anything to tell us what choice to make is frightening. We are capable of joy and our culture is capable of being called a good one to the extent that our lives are a reflection of our individual abilities being given expression in our work, our play, our social life and our government. We are happy to the extent that we realize ourselves, or as Fromm puts it, that we give birth to ourselves over our lifetimes. In order for this to occur our society must value the human over the inanimate (property) and that is the downfall of Capitalism. We are in service to the system of production and have become alientated from ourselves and others. We fashion ourselves to be appealing products on the personality market, becoming no more than objects for sale to others. "I am as you want me to be" is our personal creed and our work, our social life, our family life all are disconnected and increasingly unrelated to us in other than materialistic ways. Fromm's prescription is "communitarian socialism" which is a society in which all aspects of life are interelated and dedicated to the advancement of human life rather than material production. He sees the problem and a solution but since this book was written (1955) we have accelerated in the direction he feared. If you doubt that what he says is true, try being out of a job and looking for work. You will find how little what you are is valued and how much the art of selling (no matter what is being sold) or narrow technical knowledge is valued. Things are more securely in the saddle than ever before and we are slaves to a system which promotes more of every"thing" and little of what is human. One example from real life of what Fromm is saying in his book... there was a manager where I once worked whom we called "roboman" because he had no ability to relate to people but was obsessed with work, always busy on 5 projects at once and very competent technically in everything he did, though universally reviled for his disregard of people. He got promoted and now heads the company office in another city. God help his employees. People who manipulate things advance and are highly rewarded as Bill Gates can tell you. People who care for people are passed over. Efficiency is King and humanity has been left in the dust. Remember the ancient Greeks saying that the purpose of society is to further the happiness of it's members? The purpose of our society is to make more things. You and I are out there at the stores frantically buying and that assures that this will continue. Fromm makes the excellent point that those who are successful in society are considered sane, no matter how pathological they might be when viewed from the perspective of what it means to be an integrated, productive human being. As we ever more frantically race to make life ever more frantic, we are forgetting what sanity is in our materialistic frenzy. You can drive from coast to coast across this country of 300 million people and not have contact with another human being except when they pass you a burger at the drive-through. Very efficient but is this isolation that technology promotes good for people? We could all do with a careful reading of Fromm's book.

Rating:
Summary: New to philosophy
Review: I read this book last semester in my Philosophy 100 class. I thought it was probably the most influential to me because I seem to share a lot of views with Fromm and he can be easier to read than I thought Nietzche was. Very interesting, if you want to read some philosophy and make sense of it, I would recommend this one.

Rating:
Summary: think you live in a sane culture?
Review: If you're a Westerner, you won't after you read this book. This book has destroyed with total thoroughness any pretention that being "normal" and adjusted has anything to do with health or fulfillment. A devastating social critique.

Rating:
Summary: A weak case
Review: It is always difficult (and some say impossible) to analyze a society or culture from an objective and apodictic point of view, for the obvious reason that the individuals doing the analysis have to sit outside the phenomena in which they are analyzing. If they characterize a particular society as being dysfunctional or its citizens maladjusted in some way, and they themselves are embedded in this society, then an obvious question arises as to why they have the ability to make this characterization, and are not themselves the products of the problems of this culture. In addition, if such individuals put their analysis in print, and if one or more readers understand and are sympathetic with their opinions, then these readers too, must have not been influenced by the problems of the society. Thus the issue comes down to counting the number of individuals who have escaped the decadent influences of their own culture, which entails the use of statistical and scientific analysis.

The author of this book does not subject the societies that he analyzes to rigorous scientific scrutiny. Thus the contents of the book are merely opinions, but that is not to say that one could not get anything out of its perusal. Its contents are thought provoking, and could serve to motivate readers to perhaps attempt to justify them more quantitatively. There is only one place in the book where the author performs any degree of statistical analysis: he gives tables detailing the number of suicides and homicides and alcoholics per 100,000 of adult populations in sixteen countries. This table is used to give a rough guide to the mental health of these countries. He concludes also, from the data in the table, that affluent societies have the highest incidence of suicides, and therefore are the most mentally or emotionally unstable. He does not however take into account that the data may indicate a transient type of phenomena, possibly from extraneous or extreme historical events, that caused problems in some of the individuals populating these countries. Two world wars may indeed have been a temporary but large perturbation to these individual's mental health, traumatizing them to the degree that suicide or alcoholism was their seemingly only option. And one could perhaps imagine a society where alcoholism and suicide were prevented by some artificial and coercive acts of the government, such as requiring individuals to take mind-altering drugs that will alleviate tendencies to suicide or alcoholism. Thus the mere absence or rare occurence of suicides or alcoholics does not by itself point to a "sane" society.

But it is free societies that the author is most concerned with, and, thus he argues, in spite of the rise of free time and less burdens placed on modern humans, they still commit suicide and abuse alcohol more than perhaps societies that do not possess the luxury of leisure time. But no case studies are given for the kinds of behavior that the author asserts is present predominantly in free, afluent socieites. Indead, the author engages in a diatribe that is general and philosophical, with no attempt to gather statistics to support what he believes about free, capitalist societies. In addition, he makes no effort to study the individuals who feel very happy to live and work in such societies. The reason for this is perhaps the author's belief that these kinds of individuals were the consequence of a attempt to "mold them for the purpose of the continuing functioning of the society". Thus their happiness is not really genuine, but merely a state resulting from being manipulated to follow some requirement of "social character". "Capitalism", he says, "needs men who cooperate smoothly in large groups; who want to consume more and more, and whose tastes are standardized and can be easily influenced and anticipated." This may be true to a degree, but capitalist societies also need individuals who swim against the current, this need being driven by innovation. Technological change demands independence of thought as well as self-confidence, and a free society cannot survive without having a large collection of its citizens possessing these qualities. The author though seems to be unable to imagine how anyone could be truly happy in a free, capitalist society. And again, the author does not give one example of an individual or case study that would substantiate his claims. Of all the people who live in the societies he criticizes, can't he find one individual who he can cite, perhaps from medical journals or physicians case-histories, that is an example of a maladjusted, dysfunctional, perhaps mentally ill person who exemplifies his assertions? If one is to believe the author's theories, much more than mere dialog will have to be presented. Such studies are difficult but that is the nature of scientific research into mental illness and psychology.

Every human born in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is born into a situation that is not of their own making. And everyone is subject to influences and events that they do not have control over. The fact that we all sometimes do not object to such influences and events is not a sign that we enjoy being dominated and want to escape from our freedom, as the author claims. It may indeed be a sign and proof that we have optimized our emotional and psychological health, that we are genuinely happy, and that we find life in the 21st century exhilirating.

Rating:
Summary: Reply to Carlson
Review: Just a comment about Mr. Carlson (or Dr. Carlson, if he is a PhD and commodity in the market). Think about how many people you know that suffer of anxiety, depression, insonia, and other psychological problems, or think about the narcissistic people around you. Try to discover how many americans have sleeping problems, high blood pressure, etc. Finally ask yourself why the United States are the world champion of obesity. And then think if you really need more ''quantitative data'' to support Fromm's ideas.

Rating:
Summary: Weak case review by Carlson is nonsense
Review: Mr Carlsons suggestion is ludicrous.He is saying that man born into a particular society is unable to look objectively at it and
draw conclusions.The error is that of Mr Carlson and not the assertions of Fromm.
Fromm is correct in characterising Capatalist society as he does,
it has created a society based on commodities.Look around you and you can see to what extent we idolise material things.The value of goods is portrayed far higher than their actual value,to the point where we have a society actually lying to itself.Thus the values of contemporary society have certainly changed.We must not lose our humanity.But there is hope beacause
although we are all products of the society we live in there are those who have been able reflect objectively on our state and if we listen,we might just save ourselves from destruction.

Rating:
Summary: A great criticism though slightly biased
Review: The social criticism is awesome. Unfortunately, Fromm missed the simple truth that the unalienated condition depends on connectedness with nature and not on its domination.