Fromm rejected analytic neutrality as concealing bourgeois authoritarian values

Evidence

Even while they were still in Frankfurt, Adorno had looked askance at the collaboration between Horkheimer and Fromm, whom he described as a professional Jew'. … Adorno's criticism of Fromm's article in 1935 in the ZfS on The Social Determinateness of Psychoanalytic Therapy’ was similar to Horkheimer’s. In that article Fromm had criticized Freud on the grounds that, behind the tolerance' of the indifferent’ and emotionally cold' analyst, there was a concealed respect for the social taboos of the bourgeoisie which had caused the patient's repressions in the first place. More or less unconsciously, the Freudian analyst was concealing an authoritarian, patricentric attitude. However, for the analytic situation to fulfil its purpose, more than mere neutrality’ was required: what was necessary was unconditional approval of the patient’s demand for happiness. Tact' and kindness’ in the analyst, as Sandor Ferenczi had described them, were indispensable positive characteristics. Fromm emphasized Ferenczi’s observation that analysis could only be brought to a successful conclusion when the patient had lost his fear of the analyst and had acquired a `feeling of equality’ with him. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1102

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Fromm’s critique of Freudian analytic neutrality — that ‘neutrality’ masks conformity to bourgeois taboos and demands unconditional approval of the patient’s wish for happiness.
• XREF: connects to: Freudian analytic neutrality conceals an authoritarian respect for bourgeois taboos — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1102; Horkheimer defended Freud against Fromm’s critique of bourgeois elements in his thinking — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 356; Fromm’s preferred therapy rejected Freud’s authority and adjustment-oriented goals — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 344

Broader Connections

• Horkheimer defended Freud against Fromm’s critique of bourgeois elements in his thinking #responds-to (0.85) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 356
• Fromm’s preferred therapy rejected Freud’s authority and adjustment-oriented goals #expands (0.80) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 344