Ecotherapeutic Self-Cultivation

An Interpretation of Erich Fromm's Theory of Love in the Capitalocene

Authors

• Johanna Kallio Tampereen yliopisto https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2820-5177
• Jani Pulkki Tampereen yliopisto https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7058-5364
• Antti Saari Tampereen yliopisto https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3777-6948
• Tuomas Tervasmäki Tampereen yliopisto https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2300-6451

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33350/ka.111733

Keywords:

self-cultivation, love, capitalocene, biophilia, environmental education, Erich Fromm

Abstract

The article examines Erich Fromm’s (1900–1980) theory from the perspective of self-cultivation, i.e., a person's self-directed growth and development. The paper proposes a model of ecotherapeutic self-cultivation, which recontextualizes Fromm's theory of love and his political critique in the time of the capitalocene. The article argues that the capitalocene is a period harmful to all living things and that prevailing practices need to be modified through self-cultivation. Such a thorough questioning of and the development of prevailing thought patterns are understood in the article as a form of therapeutic self-cultivation that supports the human mind’s well-being. Our interpretation of ecotherapeutic self-cultivation describes the conditions of the practices included in Fromm’s theory of love, as well as the areas of care, respect, responsibility and knowledge, which underpin these practices as part of more ecologically sustainable self-cultivation. In this article, the attitude promoting the diversity of the biosphere and the goal of ecotherapeutic self-cultivation is described with the concept of biophilia. The current capitalist order of the capitalocene is interpreted with the concept of biophobia, i.e., the fear of living things. The research develops a new kind of self-cultivational concept for the time of capitalocene. In ecotherapeutic self-cultivation, the starting point is transitioning from a biophobic, fearful attitude toward biophilia, which includes therapeutic features.