For the Love of Life

This poignant philosophy about the human capacity for love in the face of tragedy from the New York Times-bestselling author is as relevant today as it was when it was first broadcast.
Transcribed from a series of recorded conversations streamed over German public radio in 1970, the profound ideas and thoughts collected in this volume represent a lifetime of the renowned psychoanalyst and social philosopher's explorations into human emotion and behavior throughout the twentieth century.
Insightful and provocative, Erich Fromm meditates on the preoccupations that drive human action or inaction, interweaving related ideas from such profound thinkers as Sigmund Freud, Albert Camus, and Karl Marx. Here, Fromm recognizes the links between rising contemptuous boredom and overwhelming overabundance. He unravels the confusing mysteries of religious doctrines by examining the causes and motives behind our aggressive tendencies and revealing how dreams connect us all as a universal language. Fromm's perspective offers a vivid portrait of our ever-evolving social history and the difficulty of experiencing personal growth in a world driven by "manufactured needs."
Despite all of modern life's trials, For the Love of Life celebrates Fromm's belief in the human spirit to rise above tragedy and trauma through the bonds of family, friendship, and the transcendent power of love.
Includes a preface by Hans Jürgen Schultz.

Erich Fromm (1900-1980) was a bestselling psychoanalyst and social philosopher whose views about alienation, love, and sanity in society-discussed in his books such as Escape from Freedom, The Art of Loving, The Sane Society, and To Have or To Be?-helped shape the landscape of psychology in the mid-twentieth century. Fromm was born in Frankfurt, Germany, to Jewish parents, and studied at the universities of Frankfurt, Heidelberg (where in 1922 he earned his doctorate in sociology), and Munich. In the 1930s he was one of the most influential figures at the Frankfurt Institute of Social Research. In 1934, as the Nazis rose to power, he moved to the United States. He practiced psychoanalysis in both New York and Mexico City before moving to Switzerland in 1974, where he continued his work until his death.