September 2006: Reference: Philosopher and writer - Arno Gruen

Arno Gruen was born in Berlin in 1923 and immigrated with his parents to the USA in 1936 where studied psychology and attained a doctorate as a psychoanalyst under Theodor Reik in 1961. He held numerous posts at diverse universities and clinics.
In 1979 he returned to Europe and has lived and worked in Zurich since.

Arno Gruen mirrors society. He believes that an authoritarian upbringing can have severe consequences. If parents fail to show their children counterbalancing tenderness, an unsatisfied need for tenderness remains. This need, however, cannot be admitted. Obedience towards authority promises redemption, violence is experienced as strength; compassion is experienced as a weakness.

Literature: The Betrayal of the Self, 1988; The Insanity of Normality,1992; Der Verlust des Mitgefühls Über die Politik der Gleichgültigkeit (The Loss of Compassion), 1997; Der Fremde in uns, (The Stranger Within Us), 2000; Der Kampf um die Demokratie. Der Extremismus, die Gewalt und der Terror (The Struggle for Democracy: extremism, violence and terror), 2002; Verratene Liebe – Falsche Götter (Betrayed Love/ False Gods), 2003.