"The Pathology of Normalcy examines the very definitions of mental health and mental sickness in modern-day society. Sections consist of lectures about frame of reference when evaluating mental health, the intersection of alienation and mental health issues, and even the interplay between psychological and economic theory, as he deconstructs the weaknesses of Marxist Socialism and explains why it has been largely rejected in modern America. Of particular interest is the self-evident section "Is Man Lazy by Nature?," which strives to understand how humankind can best overcome its own tendencies toward inertia. [The American Mental Health Foundation's Fromm titles] are timely, directly relevant to modern psychological and social issues, and bring absolutely invaluable humanist messages to temper psychology's scientific and healing discipline. Highly recommended, especially for college library collections." ― Midwest Book Review A brilliant meditation on mental health in the modern world; alienation and mental health; ways to overcome “the insane society”; a comprehensive analysis of prevailing concepts of mental health against Fromm’s views on overcoming destructive narcissism and social determinants of mental health; and a look at humankind’s alleged passivity in relation to dreams, child development, and psychology.
Author
Erich Fromm, Ph.D. (Sociology, University of Heidelberg, 1922), was a psychoanalyst and social philosopher who explored the interaction between psychology and society, and held various professorships in psychology in the U.S. and Mexico in the mid-20th century. Fromm's theory is a rather unique blend of Freud and Marx. Freud, of course, emphasized the unconscious, biological drives, repression, and so on. In other words, Freud postulated that our characters were determined by biology. Marx, on the other hand, saw people as determined by their society, and most especially by their economic systems.
