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Victor Frankl. “Man’s Search for Meaning”. Biography: Victor Frankl. Viktor Emil Frankl (March 26, 1905, – September 2, 1997) Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist Holocaust survivor Founder of Logotherapy. His best-selling book, Man’s Search for Meaning
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Victor Frankl “Man’s Search for Meaning”
Biography: Victor Frankl Viktor Emil Frankl (March 26, 1905, – September 2, 1997) Austrian neurologistand psychiatrist Holocaust survivor Founder of Logotherapy
His best-selling book, • Man’s Search for Meaning • chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate which led him to discover the importance of finding meaning in all forms of existence, • even the most difficult ones
On October 19, 1944, Frankl, with his wife, Tilly, was transported to the Auschwitz He was processed and then he was moved to Dachau where he arrived on October 25, 1944. There he was to spend 5 months working as a "slave-laborer". In March 1945, he worked as a doctor until April 27, 1945, until liberated by the Americans.
Meanwhile, his wife, Tilly, was transferred from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen where she died. • His mother, Elsa, was killed by the Nazis in the gas chambers of Auschwitz, • His brother, Walter, died working in a mine part of Auschwitz. • Frankl's immediate relatives, the only survivor of the Holocaust was his sister, Stella, who had escaped from Austria by emigrating to Australia.
In 1947 he married his second wife Eleonore Katharina Schwindt. • They had one daughter, Gabriele
Logotherapy • Logos = Greek for “word, study, meaning” • Psychotherapy based upon finding meaning in life
Freud = A will to pleasure • Adler = A will to power • Frankl = A will to meaning
Decisions • We decide • How we will react to situations • Our attitude in situations • This makes us who we are
Concentration Camps • Why do some survive and some do not? • Their attitude! • We are not things • We are free beings no matter what
Despair • D = S – M • Despair is suffering without meaning • We must find meaning in our suffering • We must have something to live for
Conscience • He sees conscience as a type of spirituality, • It is the core of our being • The source of our personal integrity
He says: • “... Being human is being responsible -- existentially responsible, responsible for one’s own existence.” • Conscience is intuitive and highly personalized • It refers to a real person in a real situation, • It cannot be reduced to simple “universal laws.” • It must be lived.
Existential Vacuum • Favorite metaphor • If meaning is what we desire, when we don’t find it there is a vacuum, an emptiness, in our lives • We try to fill it with something
The most obvious signs of existential vacuum in our society is boredom. • When we finally have the time to do what we want, • We don’t seem to want to o anything! • Can’t figure out what to do
We might try to fill our lives with • Pleasure • Eating • Sex • Money • Power • Busy-ness
We might also fill our lives with neurotic “vicious cycles,” • whatever we do, it is never enough.
Anticipatory Anxiety • We are so afraid of getting anxious • We get anxious • Future • Money • Safety
Hyper-intention • Trying too hard which prevents you from succeeding Example: • Insomnia (try to fall asleep)
Hyper-reflection • “thinking too hard.” • the self- fulfilling prophecy
Finding Meaning • So how do we find meaning? • Frankl discusses three broad approaches.
Experiential Values • Experiencing something - or someone - we value.
The most important example of experiential values is the love we feel towards another. • Through our love of someone, we develop meaning for our lives • “Love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire.”
Frankl points out that, in modern society, many confuse • - Sex with love • - Lust with love • Love is the recognition of the uniqueness of the other as an individual, with an intuitive understanding of their full potential as a human being
Frankl believes this is only possible within monogamous relationships. • As long as partners are interchangeable, they remain objects.
Creative Values • A second means of discovering meaning is through creative values by • “doing a deed” • It includes the creativity • A Great Work
Attitudinal Values • Our attitude toward life • Positive • Reflective • Sensitive to needs of others • Non Judgmental • We find value by living this way
Transcendence • Ultimately, however, • experiential, creative, and attitudinal values • are merely surface manifestations of something much more fundamental, • which is Transcendence
This sets Frankel’s existentialism apart from the atheistic existentialism of someone like Jean Paul Sartre • Who focuses upon the here and now • There is nothing beyond this • Life’s ultimate meaninglessness
Transcendence • Ultimate meaning in life • Not dependent on others • Not dependent on our projects • Not dependent even on our dignity. • It is a reference to God and ultimate spiritual meaning.
Again, it was his experiences in the death camps that led him to these conclusions: • “In spite of all the enforced physical and mental primitiveness of the life in a concentration camp, • it was possible for spiritual life to deepen.... They were able to retreat from their terrible surroundings to a life of inner riches and spiritual freedom.”
We might be able to intellectually understand transcendence • But we might be able to experience it • Emotionally • Spiritually • Belief
Meaning in Life • Man can endure any how • If he has a why! • We must all find our own meaning to our lives
