What Does Man's Search For Meaning Mean

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

"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."

We are meant to become our truest selves by finding meaning in our lives, which, according to Frankl, can come from three places: work, love, and our attitude in the face of horrific suffering or difficulty. And at the center of this meaning is our responsibility and human right to choose. In Frankl’s theory, we all strive to fulfill a self-chosen goal, from which meaning has the potential to be found. And if no meaning is found, there is meaning yet to be found, or meaning to be drawn from the apparent lack of meaning. Whatever the case, Frankl viewed man’s lack of meaning as the greatest existential crisis, the stress of this meaninglessness giving life and shape to all of our neuroses.

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 by Viktor Frankl is filled to the brim with rhetorical devices from all three sections of the text. Particularly in his section about logotherapy, Frankl’s practice to find an individual’s meaning of life, he explores the three main meanings of life: accomplishment, love, and suffering. This area uses a plethora of comparison, such as parallelism and metaphor. Recurring themes are used to draw back to Frankl’s three life meanings, like word repetition and alliteration. Frankl’s use of rhetorical devices allows his audience to focus on their individual possibilities and incorporate his ideology into society.

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.

Both Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl and “For an Auschwitz Survivor, His Son’s Graduation Spelled Freedom” by Harley Rotbart, draw upon real life experiences to relay how powerful an optimistic mindset can be in allowing one to overcome the most arduous of hardships. The parallel can be drawn between both stories in the inmate using introspection to seek towards and appreciate his goals of the future instead of dwelling upon the forced and oppressive life he had while in the concentration camps. In having an intense amount of suffering while in the camps, the persons cultivated a deeper meaning from that experience that later set him forward to find purpose in his life. From Frankl’s perseverance, he found more meaning in personal accomplishments, and from Rotbart’s father’s perseverance, he found more meaning in his son’s

Being with family and friends is the most important meaning to my life. They care about me, love me unconditionally, and will help me make the best out of life. The memories I will be able to take with me when I am gone are endless because of them. They make me laugh and help me shape myself into a responsible young woman. Frankl wants readers to believe that they have the capability to change themselves and live a happy life. That is exactly the motives I want to conquer with my meaning of life. So ask oneself, “what is the meaning of my life?” When it is figured out, believe in it and find what makes life worth the

Without any exaggeration or platitude, I can definitely say that Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is the most challenging book I’ve ever read at Somers High School. The book begins as an autobiographical recount of the immense human suffering the author encountered in the Nazi concentration camps, particularly the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Frankl offers his personal reflections, interspersed between anecdotes from the camp about men at their lowest moments. The horror of the camps is undeniable, but despite his tragic stories of hopelessness and anguish among, there’s an odd feeling of emotional subversion and insult when he uses collective pronouns to describe his personal convictions.

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.

Frankl believes several things, and he shares these theories with his readers. First of all; the basic concept of Logotherapy is that if one finds a purpose or a meaning in their life they can endure anything. He supports this many times over with specific examples. He was forced to dig trenches in freezing cold weather without adequate clothing and shoes. The shoes might be too tight causing pain and blisters, he may have no socks, or the shoes might have holes in them, allowing the ice and snow to get against his skin. He states that he got through these long, painful days by thinking about the beauty of nature or thoughts of his wife. He focused on the unlikely fact that his wife might be alive, giving him the will to live. Other times, while at another camp where he worked as the only doctor caring for 52 sick and dying patients, he himself was on the brink of starvation and typhus and he did not give up. He felt that it was his duty to care for these people, keep them comfortable and give them the best that he could at the time with minimal resources. There might have

In this paper I will be analysing/ reflecting on Viktor Frankl’s Man 's Search for Meaning. In my reflection I will compare the main philosophical message of frankl 's experience and try to compare its meaning to my very own life experience. In order to do this I must give you some personal background while growing up I was born with some challenging complications due to a lack of oxygen at birth I was diagnosed with ataxic cerebral palsy. The thing about ataxic cerebral palsy is that it has affected my life in many ways some miniscule others immense. I can write an entire book on my childhood / adolescence and some of the many challenges I have faced but that 's neither here

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