Tragic Optimism Victor Frankl Analysis

One fundamental concept core to my mentor’s approach to life is to maintain a positive outlook. She describes the adverse effects she has seen in those around her when they have allowed themselves to become entrapped in feelings of pessimism and negativity and recognizes the toll it

The story Candide or Optimism, written in 1759 by Francois Marie Arouet De Voltaire, is about a young man who experiences many misfortunes and who is exceptionally naïve. His development throughout his journey in life is contributed and influenced by the people he comes in contact with. In the story, Candide has the opportunity to experience many different views on philosophical optimism by meeting different people who have all suffered from different experiences and misfortunes. Some of these people, such as Pangloss, Cacambo, and Martin are individuals who had a major impact on Candide’s development and perspective of life.

Lang, explains through a series of scientific studies that pessimism can sometimes be a better form of seeing life than optimism. Throughout the article studies are being done on different age groups, the youngest group always shows a “sunny” outlook on life while the middle aged group is logical and realistic. Optimism has shown health complications and mental issues in older people (Lang, 2013). I usually do not think negatively about life, but as an improvement I should start seeing life for what it truly is, unpredictable and inconvenient in order to prevent a distasteful lifestyle in the

Bitterness came upon their return to their former lives, former hometowns, and former atmosphere. Disillusionment elicited from realizing that even after reaching the absolute limit of all possible suffering, there still was a life to look forward to (Frankl 92). They became humans again. Frankl connects these accounts and thoughts to develop a profound theory of the logotherapy, which is discussed in the next section, titled “Logotherapy in a Nutshell”. Frankl introduces logotherapy by explaining that it focuses toward finding the meaning of life thus the prefix “logo”, which means “meaning” in Greek (Frankl 98). In parallel to Frankl’s idea, everyone has a purpose to live because “man’s search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a “secondary realization” of instinctual drives” (Frankl 99). One needs to have his own will to meaning to achieve significance and satisfy one’s specific goals in mind. Also, Frankl articulates his thought by saying that “love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost

In the book Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, he uses his past experiences from different concentration camps to describe what he learned was the true meaning of life. Throughout the book he describes in details that he had no hope for life as he felt pain, humility, and human cruelty during his time as a prisoner in multiple concentration camps. Frankl, believed that he had a chance to survive by using inner strengths. His great sense of humor helped him get though the many difficult situations that he had encountered. He supposed that “what doesn’t kill you makes your stronger.”

Influenced by the Freudian approach and other psychoanalysts like Eduard Hittschmann and Paul Schilder, Viktor Frankl draws ideology and creates his own twist to psychology. Frankl’s Man’s Search for meaning is a well worth reading, and should be required for all understudies of psychology. Frankl’s presents few cerebral ideas in his the thesis that meaning-seeking and self-transcendence express our otherworldly nature and are fundamental for our recuperating and well-being (Frankl, 2006). Also, Frankl identifies three other postulates to complement these ideas; first of which is the anthropological postulate, best summarized as “man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment” (Frankl, 2006); second being psychological, Viktor Frankl describes this as a man’s key motivation is the search for meaning. Meaning making is a specific process for each person and can only be fulfilled by that person if it is to be satisfying (Frankl, 2006); third one being philosophical, which states that life unconditional meaning, regardless of the circumstances or situation: “To live is to suffer, to survive is to

Holocaust concentration camp survivor Viktor Frankl wrote in his book Man’s Search for Meaning that “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.” The level of happiness that someone has in their life is dependent on their attitude to the hardships that they are given in life. Everyone will deal with their own personal set of trials, but not everyone will grow and learn from their trials. It takes a positive mindset of perseverance to accept life’s hardships with a smile, knowing that it will one day make for a happier person. One must also learn to ignore the negativity that others radiate as it only causes harm not only themselves but to others. Negativity in all aspects is a poison to happiness; it almost immediately destroys any joy that a person has, which is why it is so important to make a point to be positive. The concept that happiness is a choice simplifies the very essence of what happiness

In the book “Man’s Search For Meaning,” Frankl introduced the meaning of life that he discovered during he suffered in concentration camp. He also mentioned that people find meaningful life by creating work, experiencing something, and by the attitude we toward unavoidable suffering. As a young people, I less advanced in life and less enlightened by experience. I can’t image how many painful memory that he had, and I don’t know in what dilemma he found the meaning of lives. Undoubtedly, Frankl noticed the value of his life, and his difficult life experience helped him know himself, and finally he overcame many difficulties. Thus, for me, I think I can find meaningful lives by achieving self-realization and experiencing more things in my life.

Further dwelling on Viktor Frankl's book, Man’s Search For Meaning, it is realized that man is the real agent of giving a meaning to life. Man achieves the understanding of the meaning of life by experience and the attitude towards suffering because of social existence: “Everyone’s task is as unique as his specific opportunity to implement it” (Frankl 69). People can also

In life people learn from their mistakes and sometimes, like Frank McCourt, from hard times that, while painful, can be of the greatest benefit from among their experiences. It shapes them into the people they are and brands them, leading them to be high achievers in life. Moreover, their achievements are more remarkable than those whose childhood were happy; they were marked by adversity and their drive to overcome and exceed expectations. A good life was not handed to them, but rather earned.

But logic and experience remind us that life doesn't really work that way. Happiness and depression are still pretty much a mystery. I know that this is not supposed to be a philosophical paper or a place to expressed an existential crisis, but I have started my essay this way with a goal in mind: to introduce to you the topic I have focused

Widening your perspective on life helps one understand what his or her true meaning is. In this story shock, emotional death, and liberation were the three stages of psychology that every person who survived the Nazi death camps, all of which are curable with logotherapy. Dr. Frankl’s theory has worked, is working, and will work for many generations to come. He has done his part, now we must do ours by looking at life from another angle. Our job is to find our own meaning, whether it is a person, place, thing, or ideas, we all deserve to live life with a

One famous Holocaust victim, Anne Frank, who kept a diary while in hiding from the Nazis writes about the good things she still has left, rather than focusing on the many terrible things happening to her. She says, “In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death” (Anne Frank). She managed to stay positive, and this is likely one of the factors that contributed to her survival for a long time. Had Anne Frank not have focused on the positive things in her life, she may have begun to become depressed. Once a person is depressed, they begin to suffer from many other problems and diseases. Depression leads to heart disease and cardiovascular problems (Ziegelstein). Harvard also conducted a study that concluded “People who demonstrated dispositional optimism at the start of the study enjoyed a 45% lower risk of death during a nine-year follow-up period” (Optimism and Your Health). Clearly, optimism has a great impact on your ability to stay healthy during times of

In this article Man’s Searching for Meaning, Victor Frankl focuses on finding meaning through suffering. In logotherapy, it is represented as “tragic triad”, which consists of aspects of human existence which can be circumscribed by pain, guilt, and death. Each element of the tragic triad provides an incentive that can produce a great amount of unhappiness. However, logotherapy does not regard humans as animals prone to given incentive response mentality. It is the belief in human emotions based on tragic experiences to see that there's meaning in life. With that said, he says “ presupposes that life is potentially meaningful under any conditions, even those which are most miserable” p. 162. For Frankl the only true way to happiness is through

“There’s More to Life than Happiness” was a fascinating article to me. As I have grown, matured and experienced life, I have contemplated many of the ideas that Frankl brought forth. Over the years, I have watched others pursue meaning and countless more pursue happiness. I have watched some struggle with depression and suicide while they languished in lack of meaning and purpose.