Analysis of Erich Fromm's 1976 Philosophical Work 'To Have or To Be?'

The article examines Erich Fromm's 1976 book 'To Have or To Be?', which explores two fundamental modes of existence: having versus being. Fromm, a 20th-century thinker, argues that industrial progress created a 'Great Promise' of unlimited consumption leading to happiness, but this promise failed as economic gaps widened and environmental risks increased. He critiques how modern society manipulates individuals into becoming cogs in bureaucratic machinery, with greed replacing love as a driving force. The work remains relevant today as a critique of materialistic culture and a call for creative human liberation.