Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

To Have Or to Be? is one of the seminal books of the second half of the 20th century. Nothing less than a manifesto for a new social and psychological revolution to save our threatened planet, this book is a summary of the penetrating thought of Eric Fromm. His thesis is that two modes of existence struggle for the spirit of humankind: the having mode, which concentrates on material possessions, power, and aggression, and is the basis of the universal evils of greed, envy, and violence; and the being mode, which is based on love, the pleasure of sharing, and in productive activity. To Have Or to Be? is a brilliant program for socioeconomic change.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword
• Introduction: The Great Promise, Its Failure, and New Alternatives
• Part 1 Understanding the Difference between Having and Being
• A First Glance
• Having and Being in Daily Experience
• Having and Being in the Old and New Testaments and in the Writings of Master Eckhart
• Part 2 Analyzing the Fundamental Differences between the Two Modes of Existence
• What Is the Having Mode?
• What Is the Being Mode?
• Further Aspects of Having and Being
• Part 3 The New Man and the New Society
• Religion, Character, and Society
• Conditions for Human Change and the Features of the New Man
• Features of the New Society
• Bibliography
• Index

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Kirkus Book Review

Erich Fromm, whose humanist writings have made psychology and philosophy accessible to many, here analyzes the nature of American society, notes the origin of its problems, and proposes an alternative. He sees having and being as two modes of experience, the one concerned with acquisitions and competition, the other with inner satisfaction and general harmony. Our society values private possession and personal initiative, but with ecological problems impending, physical survival depends on a change of priorities, a new orientation. Fromm is most convincing when he marshals the writings of the past to present his argument, finding kinship in the works of Buddha, Master Eckhart, Marx, and Schweitzer. He maintains that characterological change is necessary and possible if. . . and the conditions--which correspond to the Four Noble Truths of Buddhist traditions--give you pause. He details his specifications for a new society (some new ideas, some from earlier books), yet acknowledges that the chances for such a visionary undertaking are slim. Less compelling than his other works, this will nevertheless gratify his following. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm was born in Frankfurt, Germany on March 23, 1900. He received a Ph.D in sociology from the University of Heidelberg in 1922 and finished his psychoanalytical training at the Psychoanalytical Institute in Berlin in 1930. He started his own clinical practice and joined the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research. In 1934, he moved to New York and became a professor at Columbia University. In 1950, he moved to Mexico City and became a professor at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, where he created a psychoanalytic section at the medical school. He retired from there in 1965 and moved to Muralto, Switzerland in 1974.

Throughout his life, Fromm maintained a clinical practice and wrote books. His writings were notable for both their social and political commentary and their philosophical and psychological underpinnings. He became known for linking human personality types with socioeconomic and political structures. His most popular book, The Art of Loving, was first published in 1956 and became an international bestseller. He died on March 18, 1980.

(Bowker Author Biography)