Experiences In Man's Search For Meaning

In the book Man's Search for Meaning, written by Viktor E. Frankl the psychologist, talks about his life in the concentration camps in Auschwitz and how he found the true meaning of life. Throughout the book, Frankl gives us detail about his life in the Nazi concentration camp and how the SS, which are Hitler’s loyal members who helped establish a ruthless country during World War II. The main message I received in reading the book was that it focused on the dehumanization which is the process of depriving another person or group of positive human qualities, it is also thinking that one race is better or superior to another, which is racism. All over the book, Frankl is trying to find his meaning of life through intense suffering. Frankl mentions that the only way to survive in the harsh and gruesome concentration camps is to basically be willing to die at any given moment and by doing that you can find your

Viktor Frankl wrote the book Man’s Search for Meaning. The book is about how to cope with suffering, finding significance in it, and moving on from it with a reestablished mindset and motivation.

"Everything can be taken from man but ?the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." In this, Frankl discusses how different men chose different attitudes. Some remained descent, while others chose to become sadistic. He explains that it is the condition or the atmosphere that forces man to make this decision but that the condition or atmosphere does not make the decision. Each person has to decide what attitude to adopt. As Frankl further explains "there is also purpose in life which is almost barren of both creation and enjoyment and which admits of but one possibility of high moral behavior: namely, in man's attitude to his existence restricted by external forces."

Shock, apathy, and disillusionment were three psychological stages that the prisoners of the Nazi concentration camps experienced. Ironically, it took an event of such tragedy and destruction to enable us to learn more about how the human mind responds to certain situations. Frankl’s methods for remaining positive can be used by every human being to give them a meaning in their lives regardless of what predicament or mental state they are in – it is in many ways like a phoenix risen from the

Through Frankl's view of suicide you can discover his view of human person. Suicide is wrong in all cases, and should not be even considered an option. He believes that all people can find some meaning in life which would prevent them from giving up all hope and ending their lives. Every human life has meaning, and therefore every human life has value. While in a concentration camp serving as a doctor to those who were ill with typhus or other diseases, he encountered two individuals who had given up hope on life. He asked them both to think of something worth living for. One answered that he had a son waiting for him at home, and the other said he was writing a book and wanted to finish it. Frankl helped them find meaning in their lives to hold on to some hope. Just as they did, anyone can find a meaning to live for, whether it be another person or a goal or achievement.

In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl tells the honest story of his own experiences as an inmate in a concentration camp during World War II. In his book, Frankl answers the question “How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?” (Frankl, 2006, p. 3) He describes the physical, emotional, and psychological torment that he endured as well as the effect that the camp had on those around him. He breaks down the psychological experience as a prisoner into three stages: the initial shock upon admission into the camp, apathy, and the mental reactions of the prisoner after liberation. He highlights certain emotions experienced throughout the time in the camp such as delusions of reprieve, hope, curiosity, surprise, and even humor.

Man’s Search For Meaning details Viktor Frankl’s horrifying experiences in Nazi concentration camps during the holocaust, and during that time he found meaning in his life. And he describes three things that were the most important factors that contributed to his and some prisoners survival: love, work, and suffering. It was because of those three things that they were able to survive. Many found hope in the thought that a love one was waiting , others were so preoccupied with work they were un able to think, and most effective was

He says “Had I known then that my wife was dead I think that I would have still given myself, undisturbed by that knowledge, to the contemplation of her image, and that my mental conversation with her would have been just as vivid and just as satisfying” (39). By turning to his faith and the thought of his wife, Frankl kept in mind things that were just as important to him as his job that could help him survive. This shows us what is truly important to Frankl. In times of crisis, humans often turn to comforting thoughts and obviously Frankl’s faith and family is so important to him that in his time of physical, mental, and emotional crisis he knew he could count on the thought of his wife and his belief in God to get him through. This helps us see the kind of person that Frankl is.

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl reveals how one should look externally to suffering and actively look towards the future to find meaning in life. Doing so in the face of suffering causes one to maintain a tolerant outlook on life and derive a rich and meaningful life. In the concentration camps, seemingly everything can be taken away from you: family, possessions, dignity, etc., but the one thing that Frankl highlights that you still have control over is your attitude towards life. For the prisoners who did not see a purpose in their suffering, they lost all meaning in life and eventually died. In not having a purpose to keep fighting for life, these men simply gave up and succumbed to death: “with his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold; he let himself decline and became

The Holocaust is regarded as one of the worst events in human history. In fact, the vast majority of those who were sent to a concentration camp perished there. When prisoners view the despair all around them, they find it hard to see meaning behind all the suffering. Life is no longer worth living, so many prisoners see suicide as the only option to escape the pain. As a psychiatrist who was sent to Auschwitz, a concentration camp notorious for its crematoriums, Viktor Frankl has a special perspective on the loss of the will to live that those imprisoned exhibit. In his own words, “Life in a concentration camp tore open the human soul and exposed its depths”(Frankl 94). Frankl discovers in himself not only the shock and apathy he displays, but also the strange hope that comes with imagining his freedom. The brutality of the Holocaust changes Frankl and brings out his true self while teaching him that he and others can survive the worst of terrors by setting a purpose in life, which only they can individually determine.

In Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl recounts the exceptionally individual story of his experience as a detainee in an inhumane imprisonment amid the Holocaust. He displays this story as a paper in which he shares his contentions and examination as a specialist and therapist and also a previous detainee. This paper will audit Frankl's story and additionally his principle contentions, and will assess the nature of Frankl's written work and spotlight on any regions of shortcoming inside of the story.

We can cope with our suffering, find meaning within it, and we can move forward. Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way” (Frankl 75). Given Frankl's circumstances, this quote truly is

One can find meaning and motive not through materialistic ways, but through mystical ways, such as faith, hope, and love. Frankl was able to search for meaning during his time at the concentration camp through work, love, and

The text, Mans Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl is similar to the previous reading assignment, All Quiet on the Western Front in many aspects. Both are centralized around the gruesome horrors that come with human conflict, in addition, the texts also do a wonderful job at taking a look deep into the human psyche. In light of this, it is important to note that All quiet on the Western Front is considered a historical fiction novel, this is where the sources differ. Man’s Search for Meaning is a historical nonfiction text, therefore the information in the text can be relied on to be slightly more accurate. With this sentiment In mind, the text Man’s Search For Meaning was written in 1946, the book was in the form of a journal, and it chronicled the incarceration of Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist. Frankl Spent over three years In the Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps. During this time Frankl Lost everything, His wife, His family, His friends. Frankl himself had been under constant threat of being violently executed. He lost every physical possession on his first day in the camps, and was then forced

The premise of Frankl’s book is that mankind’s desire for meaning is much stronger than its desire for power or pleasure and that if man can find meaning in life he can survive anything. Frankl introduces this idea [which he calls the theory of logotherapy] throughout his concentration camp experiences in the book’s first section and delves deeper into it in the second section. Referencing Nietzsche, Frankl tells us “Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'” (p. 80). The most important thing to be learned from this statement is that no matter what your circumstances are, you can be happy, or at least survive, if you find a meaning or purpose in life. While in the concentration camp Frankl tells us that in order to maintain his desire to have a meaningful life he focused on three main things: suffering, work, and love. Of sacrifice