Escape From Freedom

The concept of doubt is a recurring motif throughout Escape from Freedom, and Fromm’s analysis focuses on how human behavior is often a response to powerful doubts about oneself. In Fromm’s view, doubt is one of the natural outcomes of humanity’s growing individuation. When one is given the freedom to choose how one wishes to live their life, they are faced with numerous doubts, such as: who they are, what their life purpose is, what job they should pursue. Fromm argues that there are two forms of doubt, one beneficial and one harmful. The positive form of doubt is a “rational” (96) one that questions authorities and leads one to develop an independent sense of self. However, there is also an “irrational doubt” that is motivated by deep-seated “anxiety and hatred” (96). Individuals suffering from irrational doubt will compulsively seek out ways of silencing or forgetting their nagging anxieties.

In Chapter 3, Fromm explores how the Protestant Reformation was largely driven by a need to assuage one’s irrational doubts. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the growth of capitalism led to a breakdown in Medieval Europe’s feudal system. The resulting loss of people’s “fixed place in a closed world” meant that “man los[t] the answer to the meaning of his life; the result is that doubt has befallen him concerning himself” (80). The Protestant doctrine of Lutheranism emphasized the need for individuals to find “certainty” and “conquer [their] unbearable doubt” (96). Though Luther preached the importance of one’s individual relationship to God, he also argued that individuals should remove their free will and instead allow God’s will to dictate any of their actions. In so doing, Fromm argues that Lutheranism allowed followers to achieve a sense of certainty in their life’s course. However, Fromm also argues that the emphasis on submission offered by Lutheranism will never completely eradicate followers’ doubt, as it does not solve the larger societal problem that causes doubt in the first place.