"Whereas healthy people experience biophilia, or love of life, a small number of pathological individuals worship death and destruction. Fromm saw Hitler as a perfect example of the "necrophilous type." After failing to destroy his enemies, Hitler called for the destruction of Germany as a nation and finally destroyed himself."
"Fromm described necrophiliacs as essentially being motivated by fear of life and of the future. As he puts it, the necrophiliac is "deeply afraid of life, because it is disorderly and uncontrollable by its very nature...He wants to return to the darkness of the womb, to the past of inorganic or subhuman existence.""
"The motto of the Spanish Nationalist movement, led by the fascist dictator Franco, was "¡Viva la muerte!" ("Long live death!"). Precisely the same attitude is conveyed by some Islamic extremist groups, such as Islamic State (ISIS), who have used the phrase "We love death more than you love life" (or variations like "as you love life")."
Throughout history, wars typically stem from territorial disputes, resource competition, or imperial conquest. However, evidence suggests certain individuals genuinely enjoy waging war and causing destruction. Psychologist Erich Fromm termed this destructive impulse necrophilia, or love of death, contrasting it with biophilia, the healthy love of life. Fromm identified Hitler as a quintessential necrophilous type, noting how he pursued destruction even of his own nation. Similar attitudes appear in fascist movements and extremist groups like ISIS, whose rhetoric celebrates death. Fromm attributed necrophilia to deep fear of life itself—its disorder and uncontrollability—with necrophiliacs seeking regression to womb-like darkness and subhuman existence rather than engaging with life's inherent chaos.
Read at Psychology Today
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