A Counter-Rebuttal
Fromm, Erich
I would not think it necessary to impose upon the patience of the readers of DISSENT by a counter-rebuttal of Herbert Marcuse's reply to me, were it only in order to answer his argument, or his...
...Civilization and its Discontents, pages 91-2...
...All these quotes are taken from that work of Freud's, first published in 1930, which deals most comprehensively and directly with the problem of sex, happiness and society...
...Civilization and its Discontents, page 71, my italics...
...It is true that Freud writes in this article that the "importance of an instinctual desire is mentally increased by frustration of it" and "I think the possibility must be considered that something of the nature of the sexual instinct itself is unfavorable to the achievement of absolute gratification...
...but, says Freud in Civilization and its Discontents, the frustration of these desires is even necessary in the very beginnings of culture "consequent upon man's adoption of the erect posture and the lowering of the sense of smell...
...The group is deliberately limited in size so that discussion can be orderly and productive...
...I would not think it necessary to impose upon the patience of the readers of DISSENT by a counter-rebuttal of Herbert Marcuse's reply to me, were it only in order to answer his argument, or his added interpreta tion of The Sane Society...
...The next meeting was devoted to "The Worker and His Work Relationship," and the following one to the question of non-violence...
...In this view, repression of full sexual satisfaction, and hence frustration of happiness, is already necessitated by the most rudimentary beginnings of human civilization...
...Discussion Group Meets in Chicago On the initiative of Sidney Lens, who is a Contributing Editor of DISSENT, and one or two others, a Sunday Discussion Group has been organized among pacifists, liberals and independent socialists in Chicago...
...Freud, Civilization and its Discontents, Hogarth Press, London, page 69, my italics...
...Chicago readers interested in attending these discussions should write to Sidney Lens, c/o DISSENT...
...Freud's point is not to doubt that genital satisfaction is the source of happiness, but that man can never be quite happy because any kind of civilization forces him to frustrate the full satisfaction of his genital desires, especially the sadistic and coprophilic components...
...Now Freud: ad a): "Man, having Found by experience that sexual (genital) love afforded him his greatest satisfaction, so that it became in effect a prototype of all happiness to him, must have been thereby impelled to seek his happiness further along the path of sexual relations, to make genital erotism the central point of his life...
...I do want to answer Marcuse, however, regarding his interpretation of Freud since the works of Freud, especially the article to which Marcuse refers, are not so easily accessible to most readers...
...Unfortunately Marcuse fails to mention two things: first, that in the ending paragraph of the same paper, Freud states his thesis of the basic incompatibility between the sexual instinct and the demands of culture, just as I described it in my reply to Marcuse...
...ad c): "Suppose that personal rights to material goods are done away with, there still remain prerogatives in sexual relationships, which must arouse the strongest rancour and most violent enmity among men and women who are otherwise equal...
...As to Freud's statement that there is something in the nature of the sexual instinct which is unfavorable to the achievement of sexual satisfaction, Marcuse omits to say what Freud meant by this, and yet Freud makes this very clear in the paper of 1912, and especially in Civilization and its Discontents, in a footnote on page 78...
...This is not possible in marital Iove, because a man who respects his wife necessarily has to frustrate these desires...
...Freud's thesis is that primitive man enjoys a greater amount of happiness than civilized man because he is not yet susceptible to as much sexual repression as the latter, but that even in the earliest beginning of human existence, there was already a necessity for a certain amount of sexual repression which prevented man - from the attainment of full happiness...
...Civilization and its Discontents, page 89...
...As to the latter, I must leave it to any reader of The Sane Society to judge whether it stands for "more and better industrial psychology and scientific management...
...also Freud's statement that primitive man "knew nothing of any restrictions on his instincts," could enjoy his happiness more than civilized man, but due to mutual aggression, not for any length of time...
...It can be seen that this view of Freud's points in the same direction that I had indicated...
...As to the former, it does not add much to his original article...
...Freud states that because culture prevents man from obtaining fully satisfying sexual pleasure, he puts his energy to other, that is, to cultural uses...
...Marcuse, in his answer, ignores this book completely, and quotes from Freud's paper "The Most Prevalent Form of Degradation in Erotic Love," first published in 1912...
...At the first session this fall one of the members introduced the subject of Communitarian Societies and the other 19 present took it on from there...
...Meetings are held on alternate Sunday evenings, with the discussion Ieader limited to 30 minutes and the others to five minutes each...
...Marcuse says that it is erroneous to attribute to Freud the view: a) that happiness is satisfaction of the sexual instinct, b) that love is in its essence sexual desire, and c) that man has an inherent wish for unlimited sexual satisfaction...
...Freud's idea is that the full satisfaction of the sexual instinct is possible only if its sadistic and coprophilic components are satisfied...
...ad b): "Love with an inhibited aim was originally full sensual love and in men's unconscious minds is so still...
...So far Marcuse...
Vol. 3 • January 1956 • No. 1
