Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve.

Erich Fromm, a German-born psychoanalyst and social philosopher associated with the Frankfurt School, repeatedly argued that human beings are uniquely self-aware and therefore experience existence as a question rather than a given. This line is commonly attributed to his mid‑20th‑century humanistic psychoanalytic writings, where he contrasts instinct-guided animal life with the human condition of reflection, freedom, and anxiety. In that framework, “existence” becomes a task: people must actively create meaning, identity, and orientation through love, work, and ethical commitment, rather than relying on fixed instincts or tradition alone.

Fromm’s claim hinges on self-consciousness. Animals live, but do not (as far as we can tell) stand outside their lives to question what living is for. Humans, by contrast, can contemplate their finitude, evaluate their choices, and imagine alternative ways of being. That reflective capacity produces both suffering (uncertainty, alienation, dread) and possibility (freedom, creativity, moral responsibility). Calling existence a “problem” does not mean life is merely negative; it means life demands an answer—an individually and socially shaped response about how to live, what to value, and how to relate to others.