Theory of Meaning

Meaning in one way or another colors every mental state, because it is the foundation of every conscious level. We don’t always focus specifically on the sense of import in every experience, but it is precisely this sense of meaning, whether conscious or unconscious, that turns each and every experience into a conscious experience in the first place. Thus, no conscious experience is a completely meaningless experience, because without some level of meaning the event cannot be experienced as “conscious” at all. Numerous metaphors can be used, the fact that meaning may be thought of as the seed from which each and every conscious experience grows, or meaning is the spark that ignites the flame of consciousness. It is these metaphors that fulfill the theory that life without purpose is not life at all.

"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."

This will to meaning is the culmination of our developmental process. To cultivate an individual’s capacity to find meaning in their life is the greatest goal, and the source of mankind’s anxiety and neuroses. We all wish to find the meaning within our life, and are unfulfilled when we miss the mark. But according to Frankl, there is always meaning in life, in every single moment, from one to the next we all are capable of making a choice about ourselves, and beyond that, have a responsibility to do so. Even with the transitory nature of our existence and hopelessness in the face of certain death, there is still meaning to be found, there is still freedom to be earned.

As defined in The American Heritage College Dictionary, existentialism emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards existnece as unexplainable, and stresses free choice and responsibility for one's actions.  Existentialism is personalized from other schools of thought by its embodiment of three important criterion; 1) the emphasis of the individual as the centerpoint of his domain; 2) an accentuation of human choice and freedom; and, 3) a critique of social norm and its aim for individuals to congregate as merely part of a herd.  These three standards of action are present in all works defined as existential, and are absorbed in Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

She, on the contrary, argues that meaningfulness is the predominant reason of a meaningful life. The Fulfillment view and the Larger -than -Oneself view act as a positive catalyst for constructing her own theory of meaningfulness. She continues, ‘According to the conception of meaningfulness I wish to propose, meaning arises from loving objects worthy of love and engaging with them in a positive way. …One might paraphrase this by saying that, according to my conception, meaning arises when subjective attraction meets objective attractiveness, and one is able to do something good or positive about it’ [2010:8-9]. The former view provides the subjective side of the meaningfulness and the latter view provides the objective side of the meaningfulness. Wolf has argued that all meaningful lives have two sides; a ‘subjective’ and an ‘objective’. These can be categorize into three elements ;(i) subjective attraction, (ii) active engagement, and (iii) objective worthiness. The aforementioned two sides have formed together the meaning of life. She names her concept The Fitting Fulfillment view that requires for experience meaning a person should relate to the object of his passion to the objective value of that object. Only good or positive passion can be act as a

Existentialism is a philosophy that puts emphasis on the existence of a person’s freedom or life. In a human point of view, it means to believe in oneself, not a group or religion. (33)

Existential psychotherapy is a dynamic, philosophical approach to therapy that is based on the premise that an individual’s conflict within is due to their concerns with the givens of existence (Yalom, 1980). These givens, or ultimate concerns as noted by Yalom (1980), are inescapable properties that are part of the human existence in the world: meaninglessness, freedom (and its associated responsibility), isolation, and the inevitability of death. Confrontation with these givens can result in existential anxiety (Corey, 2009).

First-order desire are starightforward. These are desires simple in nature and resmeble animal desires to eat, sleep, feel comforatable. Second-order desires are complex and arise from analysys, comaprison, and identification. These desires are human beings phenomena which animals do not have. Second order desires not only create notion of accountability for one’s actions, but also can be diferent in meanings and affect human consciences in a variety of ways. The link between two kinds of desires is Frankfurt distinction between a persona and a wanton. A “person” in Frankfrut theory has a second order volition which is a conflict resolution between first order desires and create a will, while a “wanton” has a lack of concern about first order desires “thus incapable of being concerned about his will.”

  Existentialism is a philosophy dealing with man's aloneness in the universe. Either there is no God or else God stands apart from man, leaving him free will to make his own choices. From this basic idea of man being alone in an uncertain and purposeless world, many related ideas have developed. One great worry of existentialist writers is that life is becoming too complicated and too impersonal. People become more and more involved with their work, which is taking them away from their friends, family, and culture. However, these provide the only "meaning" that life could possibly have. One author prominently known for his work with existential ideas was Franz

Frankl describes how suffering gives man opportunity to expand his spirituality beyond himself, and how inward strength may rise against outward fate. He states that if a person does not struggle to save their self-respect, they will lose the feeling of being an individual: a being with a mind, personal value, and inner freedom (page 50.) In a way, man is always free because everyone has the choice to maintain their dignity by choosing their attitude during difficult circumstances; each person is free to choose how he will respond to a situation (page 66.) Man has a choice of action and can preserve his independence of mind and spiritual freedom even in times of physical and mental stress because he is free to choose how he will respond to a situation (page 65.) On page 82, Frankl supports the belief that "what does not kill me, makes me

The example contribution that this paradigm brings to nursing is a framework that can be applied to a variety of situations and patients. It places the patient in the perspective of the family, community, and culture. The patient should be the focus of practice rather than technology. Nurses have become very technically and scientifically competent but lost the sense of meaning in their work and find themselves more attentive to monitors and IV pumps (Kautz, 2011). This framework guides nurses through intersects of art, science, humanities, spirituality, and new mindbodyspirit medicine which is evolving to human centered in our nursing practice (Watson, . She bring us the art of caring that is compassionate which eases patient and family suffering promoting healing and dignity (Cara, 2003). For a nurse it promotes self-actualization and a sense of purpose for our work.

There have been several shifts in healthcare models throughout time and even more within the nursing profession. Each shift can be marked by the understanding of clinicians at the time as it relates to an idea of what it means to be human. Dr. Larry Dossey published his version of the progression of the healthcare models since the nineteenth century broken into three eras (Koerner, 2011).

Perhaps the most telling symptom of existentialist philosophers is their ever-divergent theories on the fundamental characteristics of human life and their steadfast refusal to assign an explicit meaning or reason to our existence at all. Contrary to criticism which therefore labels the movement cynically nihilistic, existentialism justifies life with reasoning similar to that of Zen Buddhism. Specifically, the notions of hopelessness and absurdity can be gleaned from Buddhism in a manner helpful to the understanding of existentialist viewpoints on the same.

The existentialist is one who is concerned only with that intense moment of awareness with only his senses at his disposal, never looking to the future – the most living awareness. McCandles, the protagonist, in Into the Wild has come to the realization that existence is already being dead and accepting the fact that life is absurd and marvelous. He embraced the sublime absurdity of existence by renouncing the language games society plays. What is so enticing about the existentialist is that he is not concerned with the pressure of appearances and small talk which society employs to lie about what they think and feel. Existentialism is accepting the inevitability of death and living life for the moment without entertaining hope or falsities that distract one from living and accepting truth. The existentialist sees the simplicity in life and the absurdity of complicating it with pretences and lies, the existentialist is a naked man, he is one who becomes one with the rest of creation in accepting his fate on this earth and not hoping for anything more – he simply exists.

Even I have been guilty of this idea of what the meaning of my existence is supposed to