Work Drives Us Mad: Revisiting Fromm's Sane Society

The philosopher Bry Willis, writing on his Philosophics Blog, presents an argument for shifting philosophical focus from "universals" and "conquest" to "maintenance" and "care." He asserts a significant intellectual debt to feminist and post-colonial philosophers, noting their shared scepticism toward the myth of neutrality often packaged as Reason or Progress. Willis argues that so-called universals are merely local stories made dominant, and he uses this premise to critique the lazy application of gender binaries in politics and behaviour. He contends that figures like Hillary Clinton or Margaret Thatcher do not represent an ethical alternative merely by being women, as they still operate within a dominion-driven system of acquisition. Ultimately, the post proposes that philosophy should act as maintenance, not monument-building, by prioritising endurance and interdependence over expansion and innovation.

"The Ethics of Maintenance: Against Natural Purpose" by philosopher Bry Willis, argues against the persistent human belief in telos, or the idea that history and existence are inherently moving toward a meaningful conclusion or natural purpose. Willis criticises the Enlightenment's concept of progress as propaganda that masks exploitation and maintains flawed structural systems, asserting that the obsession with "fixing" individuals rather than renovating the underlying architecture is absurd. The author proposes a philosophy of care and maintenance as a radical counter-force to decay, drawing on feminist thought that champions the essential, often-dismissed labour of repair over endless expansion. Ultimately, Willis concludes that humanity's true duty lies not in seeking meaning or progress, but in the humbling, ongoing task of conscious upkeep and rebuilding the social and material machinery we have constructed. 👉 https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/07/the-ethics-of-maintenance-against-the-myth-of-natural-purpose/

The provided text is an excerpt from a philosophical blog post titled "Discovering Postmodernism" that seeks to define and clarify the often-nebulous term of postmodernism from the perspective of a self-identified proponent. The author challenges common misrepresentations of postmodernism, particularly those advanced by critics who use it as a pejorative to dismiss various unconventional ideologies like feminism and Marxism. Through a series of questions, the discussion explores the core definition of postmodernism—simplifying it to "incredulity toward meta-narratives"—and asserts that the philosophy is fundamentally disintegrative rather than constructive. The post also differentiates philosophical postmodernism from postmodernity (a cultural period) and addresses criticisms regarding the alleged denial of Truth by postmodern thinkers, arguing they are more suspicious of truth claims tied to power.https://philosophics.blog/2021/01/25/discovering-postmodernism/

The provided texts offer an exploration of metanarratives, primarily through a philosophical lens. One source simply introduces the topic with an excerpt from a philosopher named Bry Willis, while the other, more substantial source from a blog called "Philosophics," discusses the postmodern critique of metanarratives, which is described as an "incredulity toward metanarratives" as coined by Lyotard. This second source details the problems with these historical and teleological origin stories, arguing that they suffer from survivorship bias, privileged perspectives, and an unwarranted belief in a predetermined future destination. The subsequent comments section expands the discussion, engaging with critiques of philosophers like Foucault and touching upon concepts such as intentionality and speculative realism.https://philosophics.blog/2021/03/07/metanarrative-problem/

The source, an essay titled "Return to Theory X: Artificial Slavery," critically analyses the modern workplace, arguing that progressive managerial theories such as Theory Y and Z were largely insincere attempts to move beyond the fundamentally distrustful Theory X framework. The author asserts that contemporary corporate culture has merely repackaged Theory X's belief in the inherent laziness of workers, replacing human surveillance with algorithmic control and AI monitoring. This regression is exemplified by the Return-to-Office crusade, which is presented as moral theatre designed to justify expensive office leases, and the growing reliance on Artificial Intelligence. The essay ultimately posits that AI represents the culmination of this control-driven mindset, creating a "digital plantation" where management seeks perfect, compliant, and unpaid digital labour while expecting human workers to accept their own obsolescence.

The provided text is an excerpt from a blog post titled "How to Avoid Reading" on the Philosophics site, detailing an author’s strategy for optimising reading time by using ChatGPT. The author, Bry Willis, feeds the title of David Ohana’s book, The Intellectual Origins of Modernity, to the AI to determine if reading the full text is worthwhile. The bulk of the source consists of a dialogue between the human author and ChatGPT, where the AI offers a critical assessment of Ohana's work, characterising it as a "superficial survey" that synthesises well-known figures rather than offering original research. The AI’s critique concludes that the book is more a well-written, approachable work for undergraduates or for satisfying "publish or perish" requirements than it is for advanced scholarship, leading the human author to decide against committing to reading the entire volume.https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/05/how-to-avoid-reading/

The provided text is an essay from the philosophical blog, Philosophics, which presents a nuanced examination of freedom as a socio-political concept. The author, Bry Willis, challenges the common interpretation of freedom as the absence of restraint, arguing instead that it is the capacity to act within shared constraints. The core of the post revolves around the paradox articulated by Jean-Jacques Rousseau: that humans are born free but are everywhere in chains, illustrating this idea by referencing Erich Fromm and Michel Foucault. Willis uses a fictional Critical Theory parody card called Freedom (Enchantment – Social Contract) to mechanically represent Rousseau's dilemma, defining liberty as a constant negotiation or civic upkeep. Ultimately, the text asserts that true liberty is achieved only through participation in a collective moral order, where citizens voluntarily accept bindings for mutual autonomy, noting that this social contract is fragile and subject to collapse.https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/05/freedom-the-chains-that-bind-us-together/

The text, an excerpt from an article titled "The Sane Society, Revisited: Why Work Still Drives Us Mad – Philosophics," discusses the enduring relevance of Erich Fromm's 1954 book, The Sane Society, which critiqued Capitalism as a psychic infection leading to widespread job dissatisfaction and alienation. The author argues that despite modern technological advancements, the fundamental misery of the employee remains unchanged, echoing Fromm’s diagnosis that most people are consciously dissatisfied with their jobs. Statistics cited by Fromm reveal a significant discrepancy in job satisfaction between professionals and executives versus factory workers and clerks, with the latter group showing a much higher rate of dissatisfaction, a pathology that manifests as neurosis and fatigue. Ultimately, the article suggests that society has failed to address the root causes of alienation, choosing instead superficial solutions while the problem persists, often unconsciously, among the majority of the working population.https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/04/the-sane-society-revisited-why-work-still-drives-us-mad/

The provided text is an essay from the "Philosophics" socio-political philosophical musings blog titled "On Death and Dying," written by Bry Willis. The author reflects on themes of loss, identity, and the limitations of language through the lens of personal decline and professional music loss. Specifically, Willis discusses how physical inability to play music, triggered by watching an interview between Rick Beato and Neal Schon, feels like a kind of death, connecting this experience to the devastating loss of proficiency described in Flowers for Algernon. The essay also touches upon the profound grief and nostalgia associated with losing loved ones, suggesting that love and art are acts of repetition where the impulse remains even after the ability or object is gone.https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/03/on-death-and-dying/

The provided text is an excerpt from a socio-political philosophy blog titled "Philosophics," featuring an article by Bry Willis called "The Prison of Process." This commentary critiques bureaucratic workflows and automated processes, specifically using the author's frustrating experience with KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) where an automated system incorrectly flagged the spine text of a book proof. The author argues that modern, codified processes become self-justifying systems that replace informed human judgment with rigid compliance, reflecting a contemporary critique of rationality which the author equates with the perceived failings of the Enlightenment era. The piece concludes that workflows, intended as aids, ultimately become "prisons" that demand submission and prioritise their own existence over human utility.https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/03/the-prison-of-process/