Skip to main content

Man's Search for Meaning by Frankl - Review

Man's Search for Meaning

By

Viktor Frankl

1946/2006

The book is divided into two parts. The first part chronicles Viktor Frankl’s personal experiences in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, during World War II. He describes the daily struggles and atrocities that he and other prisoners endured, such as starvation, forced labour, and constant threat of death. Despite the horrific conditions, Frankl observed that some individuals managed to find a sense of meaning and purpose, which helped them survive. He notes that those who had something to live for, whether it was a loved one or a future goal, were more resilient and more likely to endure the suffering.

In the second part of the book, Frankl introduces his psychotherapeutic method called logotherapy, which focuses on the pursuit of meaning as the central human motivational force. According to Frankl, life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserable ones. He argues that people can discover meaning through three main avenues: by creating a work or doing a deed, by experiencing something or encountering someone, and by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering. Frankl emphasizes that although we cannot always control our circumstances, we can always choose our attitude in response to those circumstances.

Reference

Frankl, V. E. (2006). Man's search for meaning. Beacon Press. (Original work published 1946)


**********

Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

See Geoffrey Sutton’s books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Follow on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   X   @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

JESUS AND JOHN WAYNE - A book review

  JESUS AND JOHN WAYNE How White Evangelicals        Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation By    Kristin Kobes Du Mez Reviewed by    Geoffrey W. Sutton   Kristin Kobes Du Mez begins and ends her assault on militaristic white American evangelical men with their contemporary sociopolitical leader, former president, Donald Trump. In the Introduction we learn the short doctrinal list of what it means to be a Bible-believing evangelical, but the author posits that American evangelicals are more than a set of theological statements. Instead, since the early 1900s they have embraced a John Wayne view of what it means to be a Christian man—a powerful warrior for country and God—a man who leads his troops into battle to uphold the values of God’s chosen people, the Americans. It was the title, Jesus and John Wayne , that was off-putting. I didn’t grow up with John Wayne films or a love of American westerns. I was after...

Why I am not a Christian - Bertrand Russell - A book Review

 Why I Am Not A         Christian By   Bertrand Russell Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton   I am still surprised by the memory of a professor at a highly conservative college who included Russell’s book, Why I am not a Christian as assigned reading in a Philosophy of Christianity class. I don’t recall what the professor said about the collection of essays so many years ago. However, it is a classic work and deserves at least a look by those like me interested in the psychology of religion and related fields like philosophy. The lead essay answers the author’s question in the title. It was presented as a lecture at the Battersea Town Hall (London, England) in 1927. His logical thinking is evident early on as he attempts to define the concept, Christian . He considers a few options and concludes first, that a Christian must believe in God and immortality, and second, a Christian must at least think of Christ as the “best and wis...

Taking Out the “White Trash” A Book Review

WHITE TRASH The 400-Year Untold History    of Class in America Author: Nancy Isenberg 2016 Viking Isenberg states her purpose on page 2 of White Trash : “…by reevaluating the American historical experience in class terms, I expose what is too often ignored about American identity.” She adds a second aim. “I also want to make it possible to better appreciate the gnawing contradictions still present in modern American society.” Her major theme appears to be a persistent lack of equality since the early English settlements gained a foothold in America: “How does a culture that prizes equality of opportunity explain, or indeed accommodate, its persistently marginalized people?” She encourages Americans to “recognize the existence of our underclass.” And offers us a question to answer: “The puzzle of how white trash embodied this tension is one of the key questions the book presumes to answer.” As we might expect of from a history profess...