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Chapter 8    Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis267
Likeother psychodynamic theorists, Fromm tended totakeaglobal approach 
totheory construction, erecting agrand, highly abstract model thatwasmore 
philosophical thanscientific. Hisinsights intohuman nature strike aresponsive 
chord, asevidenced bythepopularity ofhisbooks. Unfortunately, hisessays 
andarguments arenotaspopularly known today astheywere 50years ago.Paul
Roazen (1996) stated that,during themid-1950s, aperson could notbeconsidered 
educated without having readFromm’s eloquently written Escape from Freedom. 
Today, however, Fromm’s books areseldom required reading oncollege campuses.
From ascientific perspective, wemust askhowFromm’s ideas rateonthesixcrite-
riaofauseful theory. First, Fromm’s relatively imprecise andvague terms haverendered 
hisideas difficult tooperationalize, andtherefore somewhat immune tobeing generators 
ofresearch. Research using theRight Wing Authoritarianism Scale, aswellassome 
work onthemarketing orientation, serve asexceptions totherule,butgenerally speaking 
oursearch ofthelast45years ofpsychology literature yielded fewempirical studies that
directly tested Fromm’s theoretical assumptions. Thispaucity ofscientific investigations 
places himamong thelowest oftheempirically validated theorists covered inthisbook. 
Second, Fromm’s theory istoophilosophical tobeeither falsifiable orverifi -
able.Nearly anyempirical findings generated byFromm’s theory (iftheyexisted) 
could beexplained byalternative theories.
Third, thebreadth ofFromm’s theory enables ittoorganize and explain much of
what isknown about human personality. Fromm’s social, political, andhistorical per-
spective provides bothbreadth anddepth forunderstanding thehuman condition; but
histheory’s lackofprecision makes prediction difficult andfalsification impossible.
Fourth, asaguide to action, thechief value ofFromm’s writings istostimulate 
readers tothink productively. Unfortunately, however, neither theresearcher northe
therapist receives much practical information from Fromm’s essays.
Fifth, Fromm’s views areinternally consistent inthesense thatasingle theme 
runsthroughout hiswritings. However, thetheory lacks astructured taxonomy, aset
ofoperationally defined terms, andaclear limitation ofscope. Therefore, itrates low
oninternal consistency.
Finally, because Fromm wasreluctant toabandon earlier concepts ortorelate 
them precisely tohislaterideas, histheory lacks simplicity andunity. Forthese rea-
sons, werateFromm’s theory lowonthecriterion ofparsimony.
 Concept of Humanity
More than any other personality theorist, Erich Fromm emphasized the dif -
ferences between humans and the other animals. The essential nature of 
humans rests on their unique experience of “ being in nature  and subject to all 
its laws, and simultaneously transcending nature ” (Fromm, 1992, p. 24). He 
believed that only humans are aware of themselves and their existence.
More specifically, Fromm’s view of humanity is summed up in his 
definition of the species: “The human species can be defined as the pri -
mate who emerged at that point of evolution where instinctive determinism 
had reached a minimum and the development of the brain a maximum”  Final PDF to printer