The Heart of Man: Its Genius for Good and Evil

Description

In this companion volume to his continuing bestseller, the art of loving, Dr. Fromm examines those forces in man which shows that love of death is pathological while love of life is normal. With deep psychological penetration, The Heart of Man analyzes the nature of evil and of good. It shows how man in losing his capacity for independence, love, and reason, necessarily develops those forces of destructiveness which lead to his dehumanization. Dr. Fromm illustrates his analysis of evil with many concrete examples including Stalin and Hitler. On the basis of his findings, the author dis- cusses the individual's freedom to choose between love and hate and examines the forces in human nature which block the creative energies, twisting the instinct for good into fascination with evil. The Heart of Man opens new approaches to psychoanalytic theory and dynamic social psychology, enhancing the significance of many of Freud's discoveries by putting them in a new and wider frame of reference. Beyond that, it is a most timely contribution to the understanding of the current wave of violence and destructiveness which has become an ever-increasing threat to mankind's capacity for growth. Dr. Fromm shows how man may escape from his greatest prison — the destructive aspect of himself.