Philosopher and social psychologist Erich Fromm (1900-1980) wrote many popular books throughout the second half of the 20th century analysing the problems of Western, capitalist societies. In this post, we look at his own utopian vision of what a perfect society could look like.
This article is part of The Ultimate Guide to the Philosophy of Erich Fromm.
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In the previous posts, we talked about Erich Fromm and Karl Marx, who both believed that our unhappiness is due, to a large extent, to the way our capitalist society is structured. Becoming happier, for them, would require changing society first.
After reading so much about what’s wrong with our societies, today we’ll let Erich Fromm have a last word about how he envisions a happy society — a place in which all people live happy lives in a state of “being” rather than having. And we will see what would be involved in trying to create such a society for ourselves.
Having and being
You remember perhaps that, for Fromm, there is a crucial difference between the two ways of living our lives: in the so-called “mode of having,” we are trying to possess valuable things by incorporating them into our bodies, our homes and our lives. In the “mode of being,” we acquire valuable properties (for example, knowledge or experience) by becoming the kind of person who has these properties.
In the mode of having, the valuable thing remains external to ourselves: it can be lost or stolen and we are ourselves not changed or made any better for having it. In the mode of being, the valuable property becomes a part of who we are: it cannot be lost or stolen, and we do become better persons by living the valuable property and making it part of our own character.
Fromm gives many examples in his book (“To Have Or To Be,” 1976), but one most of us will be familiar with from our everyday lives, is having a conversation with another person.
To Have Or to Be
Erich Fromm distinguishes between two modes of existence. One can live one’s life in the “mode of having” or in the “mode of being”.
In the mode of having, Fromm says, the two people who are talking to each other have different opinions. Each one identifies with their own opinion, and they try to “win” the dispute by finding better arguments than the other person. Neither of the two expects to change their own opinion or that of their opponent. In this mode, one’s opinion is a possession, Fromm writes, and losing it would mean an impoverishment.
In the mode of being, having a conversation would work out very differently. The two partners would approach the debate without an initial opinion. Instead, they would listen at what the other partner says and respond, according to Fromm, “spontaneously and productively.”
Read the full article which is published on Daily Philosophy (external link)
