Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning

Summary of PART I:
A description of Frankl's many experiences in GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS during
WWII, which had a great impact on his later thinking.
Much suffering & meaninglessness
-- led Frankl to wonder about MEANINGS and their psychological importance, esp.
in relation to dealing with suffering in life.
Normally, people have a collection of meanings that lend sense & purpose to thei
r lives:
health, approval of one's peers, material wealth, good love-life, family relatio
ns, comfort, happiness, etc.
But what about when none of these usual meanings are present, such as in a conce
ntration camp? Instead, there are
suffering, poor health, brutality, deprivation, lack of material comfort, the cl
oseness of death, etc.
In Frankl's experience, many people simply GIVE-UP ON LIFE under these condition
s, and choose suicide, in one form or another.
However, other people do not. Frankl's question, then, was -- what is the differ
ence between these two? What drives some people to continue fighting for life, w
hile other people simply die?
Frankl's answer is: Survivors had some MEANING or PURPOSE -- some HOPE in the fu
ture to propel them forward. "He who has a WHY to live for can bear almost any H
OW." -- Nietzsche
PART II:
LOGOTHERAPY: a form of psychotherapy oriented around finding meaning in one's ex
istence.
-- a basic premise of Logotherapy is that many (but not all) forms of psychopath
ology (i.e., mental illness) are rooted in a basic lack of meaning in life.
-- PSYCHOANALYSIS holds that psychotherapy is about uncovering and dealing with
the PAST -- a kind of ARCHEOLOGY.
-- LOGOTHERAPY, in contrast, holds that psychotherapy is about achieving an orie
ntation toward the FUTURE, especially toward meanings to be fulfilled in the fut
ure -- a kind of TELEOLOGY.
For Frankl, the point is not simply to come to an abstract meaning of one's life
, but a CONCRETE PURPOSE that one actually lives out -- hence an emphasis on RES
PONSIBILITY.
For Frankl, the most basic motive force in people is a "WILL TO MEANING," which
is more basic than a "will to pleasure," or a "will to power." For instance, peo
ple will suffer and even die for their values.
However, this "will to meaning" can be frustrated. This is called "EXISTENTIAL F
RUSTRATION."
-- existential frustration is a part of everyone's experience, in one way or ano
ther, so it isn't pathological in itself.
-- however, an intense and enduring pattern of existential frustration can lead
to "NOOGENIC NEUROSES" -- forms of mental illness rooted in a basic lack of mean
ing in one's life.
Generally, Frankl conceives of being human in terms of "NOODYNAMICS" -- an ongoi
ng tension between who one is and who one can become -- a tension between one's
achievements and one's goals.


-- so, for Frankl, mental health is NOT about attaining equilibrium, or contentm
ent, or a painless state.
-- rather, it's about living out a meaningful struggle to become what one can po
ssibly be -- to live out life's fundamental tensions in a meaningful way.
For Frankl, one common experience in modern life is "EXISTENTIAL VACUUM" -- an e
nduring, pervasive pattern of existential frustration, where one experiences one
's life as being mostly empty and meaningless.
-- the biggest symptom of this is BOREDOM.
In Frankl's view, our modern social situation helps foster existential vacuum.
-- the older, more traditional meanings are on the decline:
-- animal instincts
-- traditions, such as religion, family, community
-- in their place, an increase in values that are essentially passive (rather th
an active & responsible), and that are ultimately unsatisfying:
-- CONFORMITY (just doing what everyone else is doing)
-- TOTALITARIANISM (just obeying orders, doing what you're told)
-- PLEASURE-SEEKING (just pleasuring oneself sensually, sexually)
-- connection to modern phenomena such as:
-- DEPRESSION (the "common cold of psychopathology"),
-- AGGRESSION (murders, rapes, gangs, abuse, etc.),
-- ADDICTION (drugs, alcoholism, etc.),
-- EMPTY SEXUAL PROMISCUITY (high teenage-pregnancy rates)
all of which Frankl sees as rooted in people's not perceiving and living out any
higher purposes in their lives).
How can we start to live more meaningful, responsible lives?
Frankl's "categorical imperative" of Logotherapy:


"Live as if you were living already for the 2nd time and as if you had acted the
first time as wrongly as you are about to act now." (pp. 131-132)
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Another aspect of Frankl's view of meaning is that meaning is ALWAYS CHANGING --
life's meaning is inherently TRANSITORY, as we are always making choices and re
orienting ourselves within the world.
DISCOVERING MEANING -- 3 basic ways:
1. Creating a work or doing a deed,
2. Experiencing something or encountering someone (esp. in LOVE),
3. By the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering.
He's not talking about deliberately seeking out suffering (i.e., MASOCHISM), but
about attaining a meaningful attitude in the face of life's unavoidable sufferi
ng. This is very important for Frankl, because here we're really challenged to C
HANGE OURSELVES.
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"PARADOXICAL INTENTION," a Logotherapeutic technique:
-- useful in cases of problems with "ANTICIPATORY ANXIETY," where one's fear of
a certain event is precisely what brings about that event, e.g., test-taking, in
somnia, sexual impotence, blushing, stuttering, etc.
-- cases of anticipatory anxiety involve:
"HYPER-REFLECTION" -- excessive thinking about the situation
"HYPER-INTENTION" -- trying too hard to avoid the situation
-- treatment involves PARADOXICAL INTENTION -- changing one's meaningful orienta
tion to the situation by actually INVITING IT -- with a SENSE OF HUMOR that help
s provide a distance from the situation.
-- in many cases, this shift in attitude undercuts the anticipatory anxiety.
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The collective (social) neurosis
Prevalence of NIHILISM, the view that life has no meaning.
An outgrowth of DETERMINISTIC view of being human (i.e., views that reduce human
beings to one, or a combination of things -- NOTHINGBUTNESS), such as:
biological, environmental, social, and/or psychological factors
Frankl uses the term "PAN-DETERMINISM" to refer to all forms of deterministic ex
planations of the human condition.
The problem with pan-determinism is that it NEGLECTS the interplay of FREEDOM an
d RESPONSIBILITY that is central to the human condition.
For Frankl, people have a basic freedom which is NOT ABSOLUTE (in the sense of b
eing able to will one's situation completely), but is a FREEDOM TO TAKE A STAND
in whatever situation in which they find themselves. People do DETERMINE THEMSEL
VES, within limits.
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POST-SCRIPT 1984: THE CASE FOR A TRAGIC OPTIMISM
TRAGIC OPTIMISM: it is possibly to remain essentially optimistic, even in the fa
ce of life's "TRAGIC TRIAD:"
1. PAIN
2. GUILT
3. DEATH
How can we do this?
1. turning suffering into a human achievement -- an occasion to find deeper, mor
e meaningful living.
2. deriving from guilt the opportunity to change for the better
3. deriving from life's transitoriness an incentive to take responsible action N
OW -- not in some indefinite "later."
In general, living a meaningful life (which includes an ongoing quest for even d
eeper meanings) counteracts the "mass neurotic syndromes" of our times:
depression, aggression, addiction, etc.