FROMM'S THEORY

Fromm's Theory of Love

Fromm's Theory of Love

Fromm's conception of Love

Erich Fromm's exploration of love is an exercise in social theory. He asks 'is love an art?', goes on to examine the theory of love, and then explores love and its disintegration in contemporary western society. A final chapter of 'The Art of Loving' (Fromm, 1957) examines the practice of love. While written from his distinctive humanistic perspective, the book looks to various religious sources to help make sense of love.

Fromm considered love to be an interpersonal creative capacity rather than an emotion, and he distinguished this creative capacity from what he considered to be various forms of narcissistic neuroses and sado-masochistic tendencies that are commonly held out as proof of "true love." Indeed, Fromm viewed the experience of "falling in love" as evidence of one's failure to understand the true nature of love, which he believed always had the common elements of care, responsibility, respect, and knowledge. Drawing from his knowledge of the Talmud, Fromm pointed to the story of Jonah, who did not wish to save the residents of Nineveh from the consequences of their sin, as demonstrative of his belief that the qualities of care and responsibility are generally absent from most human relationships. Fromm also asserted that few people in modern society had respect for the autonomy of their fellow human beings, much less the objective knowledge of what other people truly wanted and needed.

Traditional Concept of Love in Western Civilization

That love is a mystery all lovers know, all human lovers and all who know the love of God. To discuss the mystery is not to dispel its wonder, but to try to distinguish reality from illusion and truth from sentimentality. Love in all its forms thrives on critical judgment and is starved by evasion. Since all ...