Man's Search for Meaning

Intro

Viktor Frankl's 'Man's Search for Meaning' consists of two parts: The first part summarises his experience as a prisoner of the Germany's concentration camp. This part is not a record of events, but rather a testimony of inner experiences, thoughts and impact of the camp on the mind of the prisoner.

The second part explains foundations of logotherapy: a therapeutic school developed by Frankl based on his experiences. The school of thought, which believes that finding a purpose is a cure for most human conditions that require therapeutic intervention and therefore should be the main focus of therapy.

Part 1

The life in concentration camp was an ongoing survival battlefield between prisoners. In this environment there was no time for moral or ethical considerations. The thoughts of prisoners were possessed by only one thought - stay alive and save their families. There was no place for compassion and empathy.

Natural selection kept alive those who were able to abandon all scruples, those able to use all ways to save their own lives, even at the expense of the lives of others.

The adaptation phase to the new reality usually begins with the illusion of deferred judgment - a belief of the convicts that they will be released in the last moment. It is followed by the time of curiosity, being a self defence mechanism, which allows to detach the mind from surrounding reality.

The second phase is the state of apathy, where a man experiences something similar to emotional death. This serves as a protection armour against suffering and beating.

Despite extremely tough conditions people were able to deepen their spiritual life. Those able to do this could run away from the monstrous reality into the internal richness and spiritual freedom. Frank vividly pictures this using his own spiritual experiences and thoughts.

Another psychological weapon of prisoners was humor. Sense of humor, allows man to keep emotional distance and go beyond actual circumstances - even if only for a short while.

Those psychological mechanisms allow man to choose who he will become, both psychologically as well as spiritually, and this serves as a way to keep his dignity, even in the concentration camp. A man stripped of opportunities for active live and experiencing fulfilling emotions can still find sense in suffering. Grow morally in spite of being unable to impact external reality. Frank argues that, even though, people able to do this are rare, they present sufficient evidence that internal strength can help to overcome extreme suffering.

We can live only if we look into the future. Frank has imagined himself making a lecture about psychology of the concentration camp. This though kept him moving and saved from losing a faith in the future. However, one must be careful about one's expectations. For example expectations that freedom will come on the certain day or season was a reason for breaking and death of many prisoners.

The separate phase is the time after a liberation from the camp. Surprisingly difficult, characterised by inability to feel satisfaction, the need to learn a live in freedom from the beginning.

Frank contemplates endurance of human body, ability to sustain and adjust to the lack of sleep, food, shelter, etc., which proved to be beyond all the medical guidance.

He is stressing subjective nature of suffering and joy, something very small can be a source of major suffering or joy and it depends entirely on the inner world of a particular person.

Part 2

Logotherapy was developed by Frank based on his experiences and his strong believe that man's life need a purpose. Finding a purpose can help to overcome obstacles and be a source of happy, fulfilling life. The search for meaning is in his view the most powerful motivational force for man.

The fundament of psychological health is is a certain level of tension - a gap between what we have achieved and what we want to achieve, or between who we are and who we want to be. Frankl considers the belief that man needs a balance or homeostasis, understood as a state without tension, to be very erroneous and dangerous. What we really need is an inner struggle, the pursuit of a worthwhile goal or task.

True purpose can be found in the outside world rather than within. According to Frankl, there are three distinct paths through which individuals can discover their purpose:

• Creative work or action. This way relates to achievement and success and is the most obvious, therefore does not require further clarification.

• Experiencing something or contact with another man. It can be experiencing goodness, truth, beauty through direct contact with nature or culture or love through the contact with another human. Experiencing strong emotions can be as purposeful as achievements. The love is the only way to grasp the fullness of the other person's being.

• Through the way we cope with suffering. We can find a purpose even in the hopeless situation, the fate we cannot change. The only thing we can do than is transform personal tragedy in the triumph of human soul, failure into victory. The main purpose of man is not searching for pleasure or avoiding pain but rather searching for meaning. Even if it means suffering, as long as we are able to make sense of this suffering. This does not mean that we should intentionally suffer; Frankl is referring here to suffering that cannot be avoided, such as the loss of the loved one, illness, harm caused by others - having purpose despite suffering.

Existential emptiness is a manifestation of the neurosis of our times. It comes from the nihilistic believe that existence is meaningless. However the transience of our existence does not make it senseless as long as one has focused his life on his purpose, achieving but also suffering with courage and pride.

Maybe he does not have future chances and opportunities but he has real, fulfilled chances, realised values and nothing can take it back from him.