Mūsdienu cilvēks Ēriha Fromma skatījumā: destruktivitāte

By studying human beings from individual, psychological and social perspectives, Erich Fromm explores duality of human nature, revealing the manifold
manifestations of its contradictory nature. Fromm asks the question, seemingly
rhetorically whether people have a “human nature” and whether such a phenomenon even exists. His answer to this self-imposed question is essentialist, because
it is based on the conviction that the ideas of humanism are rooted in the belief
that all human beings have a human nature. Fromm’s research also focuses on
the question of what the driving forces of human beings are. Man’s duality is
expressed in his biosocial nature – the way they relate to both nature and society.
Fromm focuses on the relationship between the innate and the acquired,
seeking to answer the question of how social character is formed and what is
inherent in the human personality. Social character is what, in order for society to
function normally, must develop in its members the desire to do what is necessary
for the wider society. Character is, thus, a specifically human phenomenon, which
Fromm examines from two angles: as an individual character and as a social character. Character is a relatively fixed form of conducting human energy in the processes of assimilation and socialisation. For man, it can be seen as a substitute for
instinct, since they can organise their life according to his character, thus balancing his internal and external situation, value system, preferences, etc.
According to Fromm, the character consists of two aspects: the dynamic
concept of character and the non-productive personality type. In describing
the non-productive personality type in detail, Fromm identifies four characteristics: receptive, exploitative, hoarding, and marketing, which are typical of people
in the 18th and 19th centuries, with the exception of the marketing type, which
only applies to the present day. Since character is formed through a process of
176 FILOSOFISKĀ ANTROPOLOĢIJA. Rakstu krājums III
socialisation, it is natural to ask: what is the role of social conditions in the formation of character? Not only in the past but also in the present, man becomes cruel
and destructive because they lack conditions necessary for their development.
Fromm discusses three phenomena which, in his view, are the worst and
most dangerous forms of human tendency: necrophilia, malignant narcissism and
incestuous symbiosis. Together, they form the “syndrome of decay”, which urges
man to destroy for destruction’s sake and to hate for hatred’s sake.
It is from duality of human nature that Fromm’s view of man as a being who
must create themselves – develop their innate gifts (potential) within the limits
of what society can provide – emerges. Nevertheless, it is up to an individual to
determine to what extent these possibilities are used. If the individual is unable
to fulfil themselves completely, or cannot do so because of certain circumstances
(alienation), they become destructive.