自由与孤独:现代人的困境及其出路——读弗洛姆《逃避自由》

Liberty and Solitude:the Dilemma and Solution of the Modern People——Interpreting Fromm's Escape From Freedom

弗洛姆在《逃避自由》中真正要表达的主题是:逃避孤独,放弃自由。他通过揭示人性的内部冲突解释了现代社会尤其是法西斯社会中所出现的社会现象的心理根源。孤独和自由是一对双生胎儿,孤独是"自由之累",逃避孤独同追求自由一样深植于人的本性之中。当二者发生冲突时,人们启动了逃避心理机制,逃避孤独的同时也放弃了自由。但这种逃避在理论上是行不通的,实践也证明这种逃避不仅是失败,更是一种灾难。对此,弗洛姆指出了正确的方向:用爱来拯救孤独,捍卫自由。

The true theme Fromm wants to express in ＂Escape From Freedom＂ is to escape from solitude and abandon freedom. By revealing the inner conflict in human nature, he explains the mental root of the social phenomenon in the modern society especially in the fascist society. Solitude and freedom are twins. Solitude is the ＂obstacle of freedom＂ so escaping from solitude and pursuing the freedom are together rooted in human nature. When there is conflict between them, people start the mental mechanism of escape：escaping the solitude and abandoning the freedom as the same time. However, the escape is not only theoretically infeasible but also a failure in practice. Fromm directs a correct direction：love is used to save solitude and guarantee freedom.