fei75766_ch08_242-270.indd 247  02/06/20 12:02 PM
Chapter 8    Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis247
Fromm (1947) believed thathumans, unlike other animals, havebeen “torn 
away” from theirprehistoric union withnature. They havenopowerful instincts 
toadapt toachanging world; instead, theyhaveacquired thefacility toreason—a 
condition Fromm called thehuman dilemma. People experience thisbasic dilemma 
because theyhavebecome separate from nature andyethavethecapacity tobeaware 
ofthemselves asisolated beings. Thehuman ability toreason, therefore, isbotha
blessing andacurse. Ononehand, itpermits people tosurvive, butontheother, 
itforces them toattempt tosolve basic insoluble dichotomies. Fromm referred to
these as“existential dichotomies” because theyarerooted inpeople’s veryexistence. 
Humans cannot doaway withthese existential dichotomies; theycanonlyreact to
these dichotomies relative totheirculture andtheirindividual personalities.
Thefirstandmost fundamental dichotomy isthatbetween lifeanddeath. Self-
awareness andreason tellusthatwewilldie,butwetrytonegate thisdichotomy by
postulating lifeafterdeath, anattempt thatdoesnotalterthefactthatourlivesend
withdeath.
Asecond existential dichotomy isthathumans arecapable ofconceptualizing 
thegoalofcomplete self-realization, butwealsoareaware thatlifeistooshort to
reach thatgoal. “Only ifthelifespanoftheindividual wereidentical withthatofman-
kindcould heparticipate inthehuman development which occurs inthehistorical 
process” (Fromm, 1947, p.42).Some people trytosolve thisdichotomy byassuming 
thattheirownhistorical period isthecrowning achievement ofhumanity, while oth-
erspostulate acontinuation ofdevelopment afterdeath.
Thethird existential dichotomy isthatpeople areultimately alone, yetwecan-
nottolerate isolation. They areaware ofthemselves asseparate individuals, andat
thesame time, theybelieve thattheirhappiness depends onuniting withtheirfellow 
human beings. Although people cannot completely solve theproblem ofaloneness 
versus union, theymust make anattempt orruntheriskofinsanity.
Human Needs
Asanimals, humans aremotivated byphysiological needs suchashunger, sex,and
safety; buttheycannever resolve theirhuman dilemma bysatisfying these animal 
needs. Only thedistinctive human needs canmove people toward areunion withthe
natural world. These existential needs haveemerged during theevolution ofhuman 
culture, growing outoftheirattempts tofindananswer totheirexistence andto
avoid becoming insane. Indeed, Fromm (1955) contended thatoneimportant differ -
encebetween mentally healthy individuals andneurotic orinsane onesisthathealthy 
people findanswers totheirexistence—answers thatmore completely correspond to
theirtotalhuman needs. Inother words, healthy individuals arebetter abletofind
ways ofreuniting totheworld byproductively solving thehuman needs ofrelatedness, 
transcendence, rootedness, a sense of identity, anda frame of orientation.
Relatedness
Thefirsthuman, orexistential, need isrelatedness, thedrive forunion withanother 
person orother persons. Fromm postulated three basic ways inwhich aperson may
relate totheworld: (1)submission, (2)power, and(3)love.Aperson cansubmit toFinal PDF to printer