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The seventeen papers which make up this volume were part of the Erich Fromm International Symposium held on May 6-8, 1994 at the Washington School of Psychiatry. The symposium brought together a series of American, Mexican, German and Italian colleagues united by the aim of reassessing Fromm's (1900-1980) contributions to psychoanalysis. After the Fromm Society was brought into existence by Rainer Funk (Tübingen), Fromm's literary executor, a similar initiative had already been attempted, on a smaller scale, in a series of meetings held in Europe. As a matter of fact, Funk contributed to the revival of interest in Fromm's work in the German speaking world through a whole series of scientific enterprises including his 1978 detailed account of Fromm's work (1); the publication of a ten volume paperback edition of his complete works (2); and a series consisting of eight volumes of posthumous writings (3). One of the most inspiring seminars on the clinical dimension of Fromm's work held in Europe was the one organized by the Fromm Society on Lake Maggiore (Lombardy) in September 1991, with the participation of Jorge Silva Garcia (Mexico City) and Ruth Lesser (New York) (see Marco Bacciagaluppi's report in the Academy Forum: 4). Of course, the clinical dimension of Fromm's work has been dealt with repeatedly in Contemporary Psychoanalysis; for example, through the reports of some of his supervisees published in the 1975 issue in honour of Fromm's 75th birthday (5); by Bernard Landis' 1981 paper “Fromm's approach to psychoanalytic technique” (6), and—last but not least—through the publication of Lesser's Lake Maggiore paper (7). In 1971, together with Edward Tauber, Landis had edited a special volume in Fromm's honour. In the name of life (8), a collection of essays covering psychoanalysis, philosophy and science, and social and political issues—written by colleagues such as Will, Guntrip, and Searles. After several years of near oblivion in North America (with the except