On the psychology and libertarian socialism of Erich Fromm: towards an empirical psychological retrofit

In this piece, I will review some of the major elements of Fromm’s work that specifically pertain to its appraisals and criticisms of Freudian theory, humanist ontology, and libertarian-socialism. I then, in keeping with Fromm’s commitment to empiricism and transdisciplinarity review some of the recent works from the neuroscience, cognitive, social, organizational, and political schools of psychology, and make the case that these compliment and can be synthesized with Fromm’s mostly theoretical account of human nature, psychology, and normative political-economic organization, i.e., they can offer a contemporary and empirical basis for them. I end this piece by drawing out some of the implications that this theoretical synthesis poses for neoliberal ontology and political economy.

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