The anatomy of human destructiveness / Erich Fromm.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fromm, Erich, 1900-1980, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aggressiveness.

Violence.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (576 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York, New York : Open Road Integrated Media, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Erich Fromm's groundbreaking examination of aggression and human natureThroughout history, humans have shown an incredible talent for destruction as well as creation. Aggression has driven us to great heights and brutal lows. In The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, renowned social psychologist Erich Fromm discusses the differences between forms of aggression typical for animals and two very specific forms of destructiveness that can only be found in human beings: sadism and necrophilic destructiveness. His case studies span zoo animals, necrophiliacs, and the psychobiographies of notorious figures such as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Through his broad scholarship, Fromm offers a comprehensive exploration of the human impulse for violence.This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erich Fromm including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author's estate.

Contents:

Intro

Cover

Title Page

Contents

Preface

Terminology

Introduction: Instincts and Human Passions

Part I: Instinctivism, Behaviorism, Psychoanalysis

1. The Instinctivists

The Older Instinctivists

The Neoinstinctivists: Sigmund Freud and Konrad Lorenz: Freud's Concept of Aggression

Lorenz's Theory of Aggression

Freud and Lorenz: Their Similarities and Differences

2. Environmentalists and Behaviorists

Enlightenment Environmentalism

Behaviorism

B. F. Skinner's Neobehaviorism

Goals and Values

The Reasons for Skinnerism's Popularity

Behaviorism and Aggression

On Psychological Experiments

The Frustration-Aggression Theory

3. Instinctivism and Behaviorism: Their Differences and Similarities

A Common Ground

More Recent Views

The Political and Social Background of Both Theories

4. The Psychoanalytic Approach to the Understanding of Aggression

Part II: The Evidence Against the Instinctivist Thesis

5. Neurophysiology

The Relationship of Psychology to Neurophysiology

The Brain as a Basis for Aggressive Behavior

The Defensive Function of Aggression

The "Flight" Instinct

Predation and Aggression

6. Animal Behavior

Aggression in Captivity

Human Aggression and Crowding

Aggression in the Wild

Territorialism and Dominance

Aggressiveness Among Other Mammals

Has Man an Inhibition Against Killing?

7. Paleontology

Is Man One Species?

Is Man a Predatory Animal?

8. Anthropology

Man the Hunter"

The Anthropological Adam?

Aggression and Primitive Hunters

Primitive Hunters

The Affluent Society?

Primitive Warfare

The Neolithic Revolution

Prehistoric Societies and "Human Nature

The Urban Revolution

Aggressiveness in Primitive Cultures

Analysis of Thirty Primitive Tribes

System A: Life-Affirmative Societies.

System B: Nondestructive-Aggressive Societies

System C: Destructive Societies

Examples of the Three Systems

The Evidence for Destructiveness and Cruelty

Part III: The Varieties of Aggression and Destructiveness and Their Respective Conditions

9. Benign Aggression

Preliminary Remarks

Pseudoaggression

Accidental Aggression

Playful Aggression

Self-Assertive Aggression

Defensive Aggression

Difference Between Animals and Man

Aggression and Freedom

Aggression and Narcissism

Aggression and Resistance

Conformist Aggression

Instrumental Aggression

On the Causes of War

The Conditions for the Reduction of Defensive Aggression

10. Malignant Aggression: Premises

Man's Nature

The Existential Needs of Man and the Various Character-Rooted Passions

A Frame of Orientation and Devotion

Rootedness

Unity

Effectiveness

Excitation and Stimulation

Chronic Depression-Boredom

Character Structure

Conditions for the Development of Character-Rooted Passions

Neurophysiological Conditions

Social Conditions

On the Rationality and Irrationality of Instincts and Passions

Psychical Functions of the Passions

11. Malignant Aggression: Cruelty and Destructiveness

Apparent Destructiveness

Spontaneous Forms

The Historical Record

Vengeful Destructiveness

Ecstatic Destructiveness

The Worship of Destructiveness

Kern, van Salomon: A Clinical Case of Destruction Idolatry

The Destructive Character: Sadism

Examples of Sexual Sadism/Masochism

Joseph Stalin: A Clinical Case of Nonsexual Sadism

The Nature of Sadism

Conditions That Generate Sadism

Heinrich Himmler: A Clinical Case of Anal-Hoarding Sadism

12. Malignant Aggression: Necrophilia

The Traditional Concept

The Necrophilous Character

Necrophilic Dreams.

Unintended" Necrophilic Actions

The Necrophilic's Language

The Connection Between Necrophilia and the Worship of Technique

Hypothesis on Incest and the Oedipus Complex

The Relation of Freud's Life and Death Instincts to Biophilia and Necrophilia

Clinical/Methodological Principles

13. Malignant Aggression: Adolf Hitler, a Clinical Case of Necrophilia

Hitler's Parentage and Early Years

Klara Hitler

Alois Hitler

From Infancy to Age 6 (1889-1895)

Childhood Ages 6 to 11 (1895-1900)

Preadolescence and Adolescence: Ages 11 to 17 (1900-1906)

Vienna (1907-1913)

Munich

A Comment on Methodology

Hitler's Destructiveness

Repression of Destructiveness

Other Aspects of Hitler's Personality

Relations to Women

Gifts and Talents

Veneer

Defects of Will and Realism

Epilogue: On the Ambiguity of Hope

Appendix: Freud's Theory of Aggressiveness and Destructiveness

Bibliography

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

A Biography of Erich Fromm

Copyright.

Notes:

The text follows the revised edition as Owl Book,(Henry Holt and Company, New York) 1992.

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed January 6, 2017).

ISBN:

9781480401938

1480401935

OCLC:

891447882