Freedom - A Psychological Problem? Summary and Analysis

Fromm begins his work with the statement that the history of modern Europe and America can be summed up as a struggle for freedom from domination over the individual. However, what does this freedom really mean for individuals, Fromm asks, and is it really what we think it is?

In this chapter, Fromm lays out the basic arc of his argument that freedom is actually a kind of burden on the individual. While individuals seem to have a basic drive to be free from domination by external forces, actually achieving this kind of independence also creates an awareness in individuals that their freedom is really a kind of isolation. Man does not wish to be isolated, Fromm argues. In fact he has a basic drive to cooperate with others and belong to a...