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Judaism and the Origins of Erich Fromm's Humanistic Psychology

The Religious Reverence of a Heretic

Hebrew College

This article explores the Jewish roots of Erich Fromm's humanistic psychology: its ethical values, conception of human nature, and societal aspirations. It analyzes key concepts in Fromm's humanistic psychology that have Jewish antecedents, including biophilia, the rejection of idolatry and group narcissism, moral universalism, and free will. It explicates Fromm's major work addressing Judaism and humanistic psychology, You Shall Be as Gods: A Radical Interpretation of the Old Testament and its Tradition, along with other texts written by Fromm that address Judaism and interpret it with a secular, humanistic orientation. The article examines how Fromm situates the Bible, the Talmud, and various rabbinic texts in relation to the development of Jewish civilization, its liberal humanistic philosophy, and the universal relevance of these texts and the values that they transmit.

Key Words: Judaism • Fromm • prophets • social justice • universalism • idolatry

This version was published on January 1, 2009

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 49, No. 1, 9-45 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0022167808319724


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