Abstract: . . .  normalcy.“ Fromm's various attempts to capture productiveness in the con- cepts of love, reason, biophilia, or the being mode of existence merely tend to circumvent the problem; every human being understands something different un- der love, for example, because such highly valued concepts can easily become „contentless formulae.“ Following many futile attempts I personally see only two possibilites for mo- rely closely defining the concept of productiveness. The first possibility would be to focus on the effects and to ascertain and compare the different effects of pro- ductive and nonproductive orientations. An „activating“ effect of productive „prac- ticing “ and a „passivating“ effect of nonproductive „using,“ for example, can be established. Another possible parameter is an effect giving energy and an effect consuming energy. 9 A second possibility for more specifically determining productiveness and productive orientation is the use of psychoanalytic concepts to discover which fate the productive powers of growth suffer with which type of nonproductive so- cial character orientation. In the case of the authoritarian character orientation we can say that the authority will lead the human being to project the individual pow- ers that make autonomy and independence possible onto the authority, to make this strong and determining, the individual, however, submissive, dependent, and weak. Here productiveness and the strengthening of the productive orientation mean, against a dominant . . .
. . .  the productiveness of per- sons with an I-am-me orientation by psychotherapists, social workers, and educators is the phasing out of auxiliary egos, auxiliary superegos, and auxil- iary ego ideals. This process can only be carried out gradually and should not Page 16 16 overtax the persons involved, yet a clear and challenging concept must be proposed, with the goal that I-am-me oriented persons themselves assume responsibility for their strong and weak egos, their personal ideals, and the accepted norms as well as discontinue utilizing the responsibility of the therapist, the social worker, or educator and exercising control over these. The last word belongs to Erich Fromm: „Productiveness is man's ability to use his powers and to realize the potentialities inherent in him .“ (E. Fromm, Man for Him- self , p. 84) Copyright © 2006 by Dr. Rainer Funk, Ursrainer Ring 24, D-72076 Tübingen Tel. 07071-600004, Fax -600049; E-Mail: frommfunk[at-symbol] aol.com Translated from German by Dr. Jo Van Vliet, Tübingen  . . .
--3000,2,750,2683,53867