Logotherapy's Humanistic Paradigm

LOGOTHERAPY’S PARADIGMATIC UNDERPINNINGS

Logotherapy is underpinned by the humanistic paradigm, as its key concepts recognise human individuality and freedom, as well as their need to fulfil their potential and find meaning. To understand the connection between humanism and logotherapy, it is important to first take a look at what humanism is, and how it came about.

Humanism, often referred to as the “Third Force” of psychology, emerged in the 1960’s in response to what some psychologists considered the shortcomings of behaviourism and psychoanalysis. These psychologists wanted to develop a different approach to studying humankind, an approach that emphasised humanisation as opposed to dehumanisation of the person. They criticised behaviourism

It focuses on an in-depth understanding of people’s thoughts and feelings, with the belief that talking to and sharing experiences with people can allow for a thorough understanding of human beings. (https://www.simplypsychology.org/humanistic.html) Frankl adopted a qualitative approach when developing logotherapy. For instance, in the concentration camps he observed the prisoners around him, conducting unstructured interviews with them as well as documenting his observations and experiences in the camps. Frankl having experienced the camps himself allowed for him to be a participant as opposed to an objective outsider. This approach to research allowed for a more holistic understanding of the prisoner’s thoughts and feelings and genuine insight into their behaviour. Rather than making use of a laboratory experiment to gain scientific results, Frankl’s research was centred around subjective experiences, focusing on his subject matter as a whole rather than simply its elements. Furthermore, humanists maintain that humans are essentially different from other animals and therefore view studies done on animals as being irrelevant in explaining human behaviour. (Themes and var) In line with this view, Frankl studied human beings as opposed to

Freedom from something you do not wish for could mean not being influenced by that thing. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/freedom In contrast to freedom is determinism, which refers to our fate and all events being completely determined by factors out of our control; it preludes free will and sees freedom of choice as an illusion. The question is, “are we in control of our destiny or is it determined by outside forces? (study guide) http://www.dictionary.com/browse/determinism

Logotherapy’s answer to this question is whilst we may not be able to control the conditions we face, we are able to control how we react. In other words, we are not free from our conditions, but we are free to choose how we respond to these conditions. We are free to chose to overcome our hardships, we are free to determine our attitude toward these events and we are free to take responsibility for pursuing our meaning in life. It takes on the stance that humans have free will and are able to choose their actions.