Man's Search For Meaning

Rating:
Summary: A Triumph of the Highest Kind.
Review: Mr. Viktor Frankl left the physical world in 1997, but for me he remains a HERO. He came to be a Doctor of Medicine, and Doctor of Philosophy. He founded his own psychological system "Logotherpahy" which strives to give people a sense of their own vitality, something to live for, and, in a word, "meaning." He loved life and the humans within it.

MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING deals in part with Frankl's own dealings with Nazi Concentration Camps, for he was a suffering Jew. He was there for 3 years, and never saw his wife again, presuming here to have been already killed. The second portion of the book is a cursory look at "Logotherapy." A more detailed account is found in THE DOCTOR AND THE SOUL, THE UNHEARD CRY FOR MEANING, THE WILL TO MEANING, anf THE ULTIMATE MEANING.

The man Frankl had, throughout, a sense of purpose, positivity, and courage, whereas many of the others were embittered or frightful. He gave them hope and, again, "meaning." He thought of his wife, his work, and his fellow man, in all the deepst of ways. He helped the sick, and spoke vehemently of having a "Will to meaning" or, will to live, rather than sit there in despair.

Frankl asserts that man, whether "consciously" aware of this or not, strives for meaning. This implies something apart from himself (transcendent), as a cause, a religious impulse, a person. The "ultimate" or "super" meaning is something beyond living for family, friends, school, and so on.

He ask of us to consider the possible hidden meanings within every happening in our lives, rather than a single meaning in life. He will take a given a person and help him to find himself by teh discovery of a meaning in (a) love, (b) suffering, (c) death. He ask us not to dwell on the past, but to dwell on the future. He defiantly says that man is not, as Freud so emphasizes, bound up in pleasures. Man is not, as Alder asserts, looking for power. Psychology is then not materialistic or reductionistic. Man has Free Will, and spiritual drives. For Frankl, and myself, man wants MEANING.

For example, Frankl notes that Darwinism discusses a "struggle for survival." But, consider middleclass persons living in North America. Where is their struggle? They have "survived." Now what? Struggle for what? Another example is a simple person who attends university, is doing well, has friends, a working relationship, supportive parents, and so on and so forth. He told Frankl he still felt "empty" and without meaning.

And lastly, my own 10 months in a factory could not have been handled so well without Frankl. I was there to save money for school. This was my purpose. Rather than concentrate on the poor working conditions, the long hours, the angry bosses, and so on, I reminded myself that I am here for school. And so, I worked exceptionally hard, unitimidated. I regarded it all as a welcome challenge. They say "work 10 hours," I say "give me 12 hours." In short, I handled every hardship with eager diligence on account of Logotherapy's positive insistence on meaning and purpose.

Every person who has opened a book should read this and work therefrom. We owe it to ourselves.

Rating:
Summary: A Very "Meaningful" Little Book
Review: In the first section of this book, the author describes in great prose his and others' experiences as prisoners during the Holocaust and the horror of it all. Then in the second section, he relates the logotherapy theory (or the therapy by looking for meaning.)

The connection between the two sections clearly is that the fellow prisoners of the author's who did not have a meaning/objective in their lives to live for or who gave up on any meaning were the ones who gave up on the will to live (and actually let themselves die without being taken to the gas chambers.) Those who had a meaning to their life or something to strive for were those who tried their best to survive those horrible conditions.

Another way to look at it is: if those people found the will to live in such horrific circumstances (some of them didn't as mentioned above), then one must conclude that life in and of itself must have a meaning and is worth fighting for.

I highly recommend this book for any serious reader.

Rating:
Summary: The heart of the matter
Review: One of the greatest books of the 20th century. Some time in the future, when humans finally turn off the TV and start asking themselves why the hell they're here in the firstplace, this book might be of great assistence. Best read annually.

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Summary: author richard rhodes says-
Review: "victor frankl manages to communicate, with the fewest words possible and no matter our life situation, why life is worth living".

Rating:
Summary: I don't give 5 stars lightly.
Review: Logical and optimistic, Frankl gives humanity a gift greater than we can appreciate. This book is the great cure for our modern malaise.

Rating:
Summary: Introduction to Logotherapy
Review: This is one of my favourite books. It is really two books in one. The first is an account of the author's imprisonment in Auschwitz, and the insights he gained into the individual's search for meaning in suffering while there, and the second book is a more detailed introduction to "Logotherapy". Frankl does not deny the usefulness of Jung's or Freud's work, but he does not stop there -- he continues where they left off. His brand of pychology he calls "logotherapy" -- or "meaning therapy". In this sort of analysis, he tries to get the individual to look at their present life rather than examing complexes, phobias or dreams. Many people who are unsatisfied in their lives can trace this to a nagging sense of meaning starvation. This can be overcome, in Frankl's view. He doesn't give any very good ideas as to how one is to go about doing this in much detail, but then again, this is just an introductory text. The problem of meaning is a topic that also embraces a religious perspective on life, and it may be of interest to those who wish to pursue this further. It is a very inspirational book and contains many helpful insights for those who are struggling with any sort of suffering, pain, or grief, which they are powereless to combat. In such cases, Frankl suggests, one's only positive action may to be to endure the suffering in the right way, and to find meaning and worth in pain. This seems important to me, because life is not all happiness . . . the bad times as well as the good must be redeemed as worthwhile for an individual to feel a true sense of life's worth. Hopefully, in the future, Frankl's ideas will gain more prominence as they seem to offer more promise than most other forms of psychological theories do. A very powerful read.

Rating:
Summary: Learn How to Touch the Future.
Review: Fabulous Book! I can't begin to describe how great this book is! I had the unique chance of reading this book from a friend and it truly is a work of art in itself. Frankl's story of the horrors of the concentration camp is truly frightening, but out this experience that would give many a legitimate reason to give up, he finds the strength, courage and yes, compassion to go on. Why suffer through anything? Why stick with something when it seems almost hopeless? The true lesson of this book is : Through your suffering, you have the chance to touch the future. Frankl reminds us always that no matter what trials we suffer through, our ability to find a meaning in our suffering, to make sure that someone, somewhere learns from it and makes an impact in their life, is truly one of the greatest lessons of all. For such a small price I can't even fathome how useful this lesson is. Everyone who reads this book is a better person at the end. I am...for now I remember that no matter what I go through, I will touch a life, somewhere, somehow.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Meaningful
Review: Frankl gives us a stunning tale of survival and purpose. Beautiful is not a good enough word.

Rating:
Summary: Moving and Inspirational - Read this Book Now
Review: If you've never been real comfortable with Freud or Jung then this book could be just right for you. It makes so much sense. Society is suffering from an existential vacuum and it has nothing to do with sex. This book is not about the horrifying details of the SS but of the ways and means the prisoners tried to cope with their situation. He does this by dividing the experience into three phases: the period immediately following admission; the period where they are entrenched in camp routine; and the period following liberation. I was also pleased to find a BIG TIME bibliography at the end to help feed my new appetite.

Rating:
Summary: An enlightening, powerful read
Review: I've always found it rather a cliché to say that a book has the power to change one's life. However, of any book that I've ever read, Viktor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning has come very close to doing so. For the first time, I have found a desire to read and re-read an individual book, and have already asked others to read it as well. While it would be a tad exaggerated to say that it actually changed my life, I can say that it has had some powerful effects on my perspective on life. For the most part, it has reinforced my existing beliefs, but it has also made many things clearer for me, including the importance of one's search for meaning in life. I found many parallels in Frankl's Logotherapy to William Glasser's Choice Theory, but Frankl's views were really more profound in many ways, due partly to his account of life in a concentration camp, and partly to his ties to existentialism.

Frankl's portrayal of life in the concentration camp moved me in many ways, and on more than one occasion while reading the book. From the beauty he was able to find in unexpected moments within the hellish world of a concentration camp, to his ability to remove himself from the experience in the most humble manner, Frankl portrayed a life of suffering and anguish beyond words as having rays of hope, and even, for some, a sense of meaning. This is simply remarkable, providing for the reader a new sense of perspective on all aspects of life. Additionally, Frankl's explanations of the psychological stages of an inmate are truly enlightening. Honestly, I find it difficult to find the words to describe the first portion of the book. While it is both informative and illuminating with regard to life in a concentration camp, it is also poignant and truly inspiring, written from a different perspective than most accounts of the same subject matter.