弗洛姆赞同马克思对人的社会性的强调，认为人除了受弗洛伊德的性欲等生理因素推动，更多受到社会经济结构等的影响。但是弗洛姆认为马克思忽视了人的情感心理因素对人的行为和社会发展的反作用。于是，他发展马克思的异化理论，修正弗洛伊德的精神分析学，提出自己独有的异化理论。 弗洛姆异化思想的理论前提是他独特的人学思想。他认为人是自为的人，人的自我意识、理性、创造性使得人摆脱了自然的原始束缚，和动物的被动适应自然相区别。人有源于人独特生存状况的需求，这些需求是一定要得到满足的。这就形成了人的行为的内驱力。他详细分析了人为了满足需要所形成的非生产性和生产性两种性格取向。生产性潜能是人的第一潜能，会首先要求满足，如果社会无法满足，就会导致非生产性潜能的发挥。于是人的本质力量被压抑了，人出现异化。 在其人学思想的基础上，弗洛姆结合现代资本主义社会新的时代特征，从异化是人感觉自己是陌生人的一种心理体验入手，分析了现代人异化的表现，并指出异化的根源是人失去了人之为人的生产性倾向和自主性。社会通过社会性格使人们以社会的要求来行动，把不符合社会利益的需要压抑到社会无意识中，人的生存需要得到虚假的满足。在这种虚假中，人的本性没有舒展，终究会寻找真正满足的途径。于是，弗洛姆提出要从心理革命出发，发展生产性性格，同时从社会整体进行变革，来克服异化，促使社会成为能保证人的生产性潜能实现的健全社会。 弗洛姆的异化思想丰富了马克思的异化观，指出我们要重视人的心理内驱力对人和社会的影响，对异化的克服也提出了全面的改革方案，对我们现代社会“以人为本”、建设和谐社会都有重要的借鉴意义。但是我们也看到弗洛姆的异化没有摆脱抽象人性的假设，改革方案也有乌托邦的性质。

Fromm agreed with Marx's ideas that man is social, not only driven by Freud sexual physiological factors, but is more affected by society. But Marx ignore human emotion psychological factors on the reaction of the people's behavior and social development. So he developed the Marx's alienation theory, correction of Freud's psychoanalysis, in order to put forward his own theory of alienation. The theory premise of fromm's alienation thought is his unique human thought. He thinks that the nature of people is different from animals is the people themselves are, self consciousness, rationality, creative which makes people get rid of the nature of orignal. These requirements must be satisfied. This creates a drive human behavior. He to meet the need of the stability of the personality orientation are analyzed in detail. Think people in the society to meet the requirements, there are two opposite ways, one is active play to the productive potential of people, one is the positive potential is unable to play, but the damage such as bad potential development. On the base of human thought, fromm combining modern capitalist society has changed the new form of society, from the alienation is people feel themselves and their phase separation of a kind of psychological experience, this paper analyzes the modern people not implemented after the survival needs of alienation performance and psychological characteristics. And alienation is the root cause of the society through the character shape conforms to the operation of the society, through the social members don't want to know about things unconsciously repressed into society, make people lost productive tendency and autonomy of the person's behavior. So, fromm put forward to want to change people's personality, from the psychological revolution began, to change from the society as a whole at the same time, to overcome the alienation, society become to the guarantor the productive potential of the implementation of sound society. Fromm the alienation of thought enriches the Marx's alienation theory, point out that we should attach great importance to the psychological drive of people to people and society, the influence of the alienation of overcome also puts forward the overall reform, more emphasis on spiritual change in our modern society "people-oriented" building a harmonious society has important significance. But we also see fromm's dissimilation didn't get rid of the abstract human nature hypothesis, reform also has the nature of the utopia.