To Have or To Be?

1. Introduction

To Have or To Be? is a late work by the German social psychologist and humanist thinker Erich Fromm, first published in 1976. It presents a sustained inquiry into what Fromm describes as two fundamental modes of existence—the having mode and the being mode—and examines how these orient modern individuals, societies, and institutions.

Fromm situates this distinction within everyday experiences such as learning, loving, and working, and then extends it to broader questions about economic systems, religion, and ethical life. The text combines psychological observation, social criticism, and engagement with religious and philosophical traditions.

Many commentators treat the book as a synthesis of themes that had occupied Fromm for decades, particularly his concern with alienation, consumerism, and the search for a humanist alternative to both laissez‑faire capitalism and authoritarian socialism. While written in the context of the postwar consumer boom and emerging ecological anxieties, its central contrast between owning and being has been taken up in later discussions of well‑being, sustainability, and post‑materialist values.

The work is generally classified as a philosophical–sociological treatise rather than a technical text, aiming at a broad educated readership and combining normative argument with illustrative examples rather than formal proof or extensive empirical data.

2. Historical and Intellectual Context

Postwar Affluence and Crisis

Fromm composed To Have or To Be? in the mid‑1970s, against the backdrop of accelerating consumer affluence, rising environmental fears, and disillusionment with both Soviet-style socialism and Western capitalism. Many social critics described advanced industrial societies as materially rich yet experiencing a “crisis of meaning” and social fragmentation.

Intellectual Traditions

Fromm’s analysis is rooted in several strands of thought:

• Marxist humanism: He draws particularly on the early Marx’s writings on alienation and species-being, emphasizing needs for meaningful work and social relatedness.
• Psychoanalysis: Building on his own neo‑Freudian revisions, Fromm treats social arrangements as shaping “social character”, which in turn stabilizes economic systems.
• Religious and mystical traditions: Prophetic Judaism, the teachings of Jesus, Buddhism, and Meister Eckhart supply images of a non‑possessive, compassionate way of life.
• Mid‑20th‑century social theory: The book resonates with critiques of mass culture by the Frankfurt School and with humanistic psychology’s focus on self-actualization.

Some scholars interpret To Have or To Be? as part of a broader “post-materialist” turn of the 1970s, alongside ecological and degrowth debates that questioned endless economic expansion as a measure of progress.

3. Author and Composition

Erich Fromm’s Background

Erich Fromm (1900–1980) was a German‑born psychoanalyst and social theorist associated with the Frankfurt School’s early years, later working mainly in the United States and Mexico. Trained in both sociology and psychoanalysis, he became known for integrating Freudian themes with Marxist and religious‑ethical concerns. Earlier works such as Escape from Freedom (1941) and The Sane Society (1955) had already developed his critique of authoritarianism, conformity, and market-driven identities.

Genesis of To Have or To Be?

To Have or To Be? was written approximately between 1974 and 1975, when Fromm was in his mid‑70s and in declining health. Commentators often describe it as a culminating synthesis of his life’s work. Fromm was living in Switzerland and Mexico, reflecting on decades of clinical experience, political engagement, and dialogue with theologians, Marxists, and peace activists.

Archival research suggests that parts of the argument rework lectures, essays, and seminars Fromm had delivered on consumerism, ecology, and humanist socialism. While no complex manuscript tradition is known, standard editions rely on the 1976 German text and its near-simultaneous English translation by A. Kazulin, which helped make the work influential in Anglophone debates.

4. Structure and Core Distinction: Having vs. Being

Overall Structure

The book is organized into five main parts, moving from diagnosis to analysis, genealogy, social embedding, and proposals for change.

Each part develops the having/being distinction at a different level (individual, cultural, structural), while reusing illustrative stories and religious or philosophical references.

The Core Distinction

Fromm’s central conceptual pair contrasts two ways of structuring life:

In the text, this distinction is illustrated through concrete comparisons—for example, owning a book versus really understanding it, or possessing a beloved person versus loving actively. Proponents of Fromm’s reading argue that these contrasts clarify how modern institutions privilege having; critics sometimes suggest that the dichotomy is overly sharp and that most lives mix both modes in complex ways.

5. Central Arguments and Key Concepts

Main Lines of Argument

Fromm’s central thesis is that modern industrial–consumer societies are structurally biased toward the having mode, which he links to alienation, competitive individualism, and ecological and psychological crises. He proposes that a viable future requires a large-scale shift toward the being mode.

Key argumentative moves include:

• Claiming that human existence is organized by relatively stable modes of orientation (having vs. being) that manifest in character, institutions, and culture.
• Arguing that the having mode—defined by ownership, consumption, and control—produces chronic insecurity, because possessions can be lost or devalued.
• Presenting the being mode as realized through productive activity, love, and presence, not dependent on accumulation.
• Maintaining that contemporary capitalism, even in welfare or consumer forms, systematically cultivates the having mode via markets, advertising, and labor organization.
• Suggesting that a radical humanist transformation of values and institutions is necessary to avert social and ecological catastrophe.

Key Concepts

Commentators differ on how empirically grounded these arguments are. Supporters highlight their resonance with later research on consumerism and well‑being, while critics question the dichotomous framing and the level of economic detail in the institutional critiques.

6. Legacy and Historical Significance

Influence and Reception Over Time

Since its publication, To Have or To Be? has been widely read in fields such as social theory, pastoral theology, education, and psychotherapy. It quickly resonated with ecological, anti-consumerist, and peace movements in the late 1970s and 1980s, especially in Europe and Latin America.

Assessments by Commentators

Many interpreters regard the book as one of Fromm’s most important late syntheses, central to his reputation as a humanist critic of capitalism. Rainer Funk and others have argued that it crystallizes Fromm’s notion of life “between having and being” and helped keep his work visible after a period of relative academic marginalization.

Critically, scholars have noted several limitations: the conceptual breadth of the having/being dichotomy, the relative lack of systematic empirical testing, and what some see as a normatively idealized portrayal of religious and spiritual traditions. Political economists have questioned the feasibility of the large‑scale transformation Fromm envisions without more detailed strategies for institutional change and conflict.

Despite these debates, the distinction between having and being continues to appear in both scholarly and popular discussions of consumer culture, happiness studies, and alternative development models, indicating a lasting—if contested—historical significance.