Month: July 2022

“If anxiety is mild, it is stimulating and facilitates increased and efficient action or thought.”– Roy R. Grinker, Psychosomatic Research.

In Part II of this segment we saw that for Erich Fromm, contentment is a state of well-being derived from the meeting of authentic needs, involvement in the world, self-respect, keeping one’s eyes on the goal of happiness, and the retreat into relaxation. Today we begin looking at the thoughts of a variety of his contemporaries from the opposite vantage point – contentment as attenuation of anxiety and dissatisfaction with the self. To be sure the main focus of these experts remains on pathological anxiety and its consequences, but several of them reference the challenges of ‘normal’ anxiety. I should note that for these posts, I am excluding theories on libido and sexuality (which seem less scientifically viable as explanations by the twenty-first century), and I am lumping with anxiety all psychological forms of unease of the mind and assuming significant blurring of the margin between ‘normal’ and pathological states. In short I wish to re-purpose the clinical thinking of these experts as counsel on managing anxiety for any individual on the journey to contentment.

The logical starting place is determining why we have anxiety in the first place. I particularly like Rollo May’s summation of Freud’s explanation – “the capacity for anxiety is innate in the organism, that it is part of the self-preservation instinct, and that it is phylogenetically inherited.”¹ As a corollary May tells us the a person’s symptoms of anxiety are seen “not as merely the outcome of a simple intrapsychic process, but as arising out of the individual’s endeavor to avoid danger situations in his world of relationships.”²

Frieda Fromm-Reichmann (Erich Fromm’s estranged wife) referencing H. S. Sullivan adds that anxiety develops due to “inacceptable thoughts, feelings, drives, wishes, and actions.”³ These then are the ‘repressions’ dealt with through psychoanalysis. She also notes Adler’s tying of anxiety to feelings of inferiority, while still other therapists “find the source of man’s anxiety in  psychological isolation,  his alienation from his own self and from his fellowmen.”⁴ From this analysis she concludes anxiety as the “expression of the anticipated loss of love and approval, or separation, social isolation, or disruption of one’s interpersonal relationships implies a close psychological affinity to loneliness.”⁵ However she tells us of other explanations, for example, the unpredictability of death especially as a symbol of other unpredictable forces that impact the individual and Joren Ruesch’s theory that anxiety is due to “overstimulation which cannot be discharged with action, ”⁶ 

Another concept of anxiety is that of Karen Horney who emphasizes the individual’s ‘search for glory’ or an idealized image of the self. This common facet of personality, when pursued, leads to the need for perfection and neurotic ambitions which are insatiable and ultimately frustrated. Even success fails to give peace of mind, inner security, or joy in life – in short, seeking to realize an idealized self, is in the end, futile.

(continued next post)

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¹ Thompson, Clara (Editor), An Outline of Psychoanalysis. The Modern Library, New York, 1955. Page 104.

²Ibid.,page 109 (his italics).

³Ibid.,page 115.

⁴Ibid.,page 116.

⁵Ibid.,page 117.

⁶Ibid.,page 121.

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“Moreover there is a genuine difference between a false good, a spurious satisfaction, and a ‘true’ good, and there is an empirical test for discovering the difference.”– John Dewey, Human Nature and Conduct.

I have argued that contentment is one of four components of the meaningful life, and so far we have looked at various philosophical approaches to it. However limiting ourselves to philosophical literature risks omitting a common, and perhaps the most common, impediment to contentment which falls outside of the philosopher’s space, that is, the psychological.  I originally planned one or two essays in this area, but as I delved deeper, it seemed to me this section requires more and so I offer today an introduction and outline of a more extensive approach.¹

Historically the psychologist has not addressed the seemingly mundane issue of human contentment for ‘normal’ individuals, but addressed his or her efforts to the relief of supposedly ‘abnormal’ states of mind. This is not surprising given the pervasiveness of the many forms of psychopathology – depression, anxiety, other neuroses, psychoses, personality disorders, and so forth – all of which not only prevent contentment for affected individuals, but impair their very function in society. However psychologists recognize that even ‘normal’ individuals (including themselves) suffer from some level of anxiety, mood swings, and relationship dysfunction which contribute to disquietude. It turns out contentment requires not only philosophical peace of mind, but also psychological equanimity. In a sense I prefigured this section with Freud in that earlier post although my focus then was confined to his more philosophical speculations.

Now moving fully to the psychological perspective, I propose to divide this segment into the following parts:

    1.  Introduction 

    2.  Erich Fromm on pleasure and happiness 

    3.  Perspectives of other mid 20^th century psychoanalysts 

    4.  Modern clinical psychology

    5.  The psychology of well-being

    6.  Psychological techniques for mental tranquility.

    7.  Synopsis

Following today’s introduction, the second part of this segment (Friday’s post²) presents the thoughts of Erich Fromm whose thoughts reflect mainly psychological observations accompanied by a flavoring of   philosophy. The third part will explore the thoughts of several experienced psychoanalysts – including Erich Fromm’s estranged wife Frieda, Alfred Adler, and others – presented in The Modern Library’s 1955 text, An Outline of Psychoanalysis. The fourth part will look at cognitive therapy as presented in a modern textbook of psychology and the fifth part will investigate contemporary psychological theory on contentment and ‘well-being’ offered in The Oxford Guide to Happiness. The penultimate part will examine psychological techniques to achieve tranquility in the modern world. I will close this segment with a synopsis.

I appreciate that some readers may find this excessive for a philosophy site, but for myself, psychological obstacles continue to impede tranquility, and I suspect this is true for others as well. Hopefully we can make progress together through this section in the ongoing quest for lasting contentment.

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¹Readers will note I came to this discovery after preparing last Friday’s post which is now labeled Part II. I did not wish to delete that post after I recognized the problem.

²See post this site Contentment and the Meaningful Life – Psychology – Part II, 7/1/2022.

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“Fortunately [psycho]analysis is not the only way to resolve inner conflicts. Life itself still remains a very effective therapist.”– Karen Horney, Our Inner Conflicts.

As we think through the properties of and pathway to contentment, we move now from the philosophical arena to the scientific starting with psychology. I offer as our first thinker, Erich Fromm (1900-1980), a German trained social psychologist and psychoanalyst and later humanistic philosopher. In reading his 1949 text, Man For Himself, I find no mention of contentment, but an extensive discussion of pleasure and happiness in one section. After reviewing the philosophical views of Plato, Aristotle, Spinoza, and Spencer on pleasure and happiness, he boldly asserts, “psychoanalysis in its minute study of unconscious motivations and the dynamics of character, laid the foundation for such refined techniques of study and observation and thus enables us to further the discussion of pleasure as a norm for living beyond its traditional scope.” ¹

One observation of the psychologist which confirms the ethicist’s critique of hedonism is that “…the subjective sense of satisfaction is itself deceptive and not a valid criterion of value…”² as is seen for example with masochism or the neuroses. But he goes further, one’s very feelings of happiness and unhappiness may be illusions. Authentic happiness, in Fromm’s opinion, is more than a state of the mind, it is state of the entire organism, its personality. It gives rise to “an increase in vitality, intensity of feeling and thinking, and productiveness”³ and must be “a state of well-being of the whole person”⁴

The crux of the psychological approach to pleasure, happiness, and contentment is that authentic forms fulfill physiologic or healthy needs, while inauthentic forms fulfill irrational needs or neurotic desires.⁵ And for Fromm the former comes down to a person’s need to fulfill purpose in the human community: “Happiness is an achievement brought about by man’s inner productiveness…the accompaniment of all productive activity, in thought, feeling, and action… the indication that man has found the answer to the problem of human existence: the productive realization of his potentialities…being one with the world and preserving the integrity of his self.”⁶ In his opinion, hedonism and philosophical approaches to pleasure fail to analyze the nature of pleasure sufficiently, endorsing easily obtained pleasures  when in fact true pleasure is “the most difficult task of man, the full development of his productiveness.”⁷

Fromm tells us that authentic pleasure also comes from two opposite sources: accomplishing a task or ‘gratification,’ and refraining from activity or rest. Regarding the latter he observes that an “important biological function of relaxation is that of regulating the rhythm of the organism which cannot always be active.”⁸ Fromm finishes on the means to happiness – agreeing with Spencer that such means must be ethical, but stressing the equally important tenet that the means to happiness must not be transposed into  an end  in itself (e.g. the obsession to make money, not the acquisition of sufficient funds to permit a happy existence).

In short, for Fromm contentment is a state of well-being derived from: (1)  meeting authentic needs – specifically meaningful productivity, gratifying tasks, involvement in the world, self-respect, (2) ethical behavior, (3) avoidance of obsession on the means to happiness, and (4) a capacity for relaxedness. I would say this is an entirely reasonable position for the psychoanalyst turned philosopher.

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¹Fromm, Erich, Man For Himself. Ark Paperbacks, London, 1986. ISBN 0-7448-0035-8, page 179.

²Ibid.

³Ibid., 181.

⁴Ibid., 182.

⁵Ibid., 186.

⁶Ibid., 189.

⁷Ibid., 191.

⁸Ibid., 190.

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Having trouble leaving a question or comment?  E-mail me at gregoryciliberti@gmail.com