Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

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Recommended: Chapter 9 history of psychology

The concentration camps that were run by the Nazis during World War II can easily be labeled as one of the most grotesque examples of cruelty in the entire world. The people that were sent to these concentration camps were treated as less than human by the power hungry leaders of the camp. As we have all learned in history classes throughout our lives, the conditions of these camps were blatantly abhorrent, and it is a surprise that people made it out of these camps alive. In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl uses his experiences in a concentration camp as an example to his readers that life holds a potential meaning no matter what condition a person is in. In the two parts of his book he analyzes his experiences and the experiences of his comrades in the concentration camps, and then he discusses his personal psychological theory of logotherepy. Together these two sections make up a novel that gives insight to the idea that “man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress” (65).

In the first section of his book, he describes his experiences in the concentration camps by breaking up the incident into three separate stages that deal with the inmates’ mental reactions to the concentration camps. The first stage inevitably describes the mental reactions that occur immediately after being admitted to the camp. When a first person entered they were either immediately killed by a gas chamber or incinerator, or they were stripped of their every possession, besides their body, and forced into appalling living conditions. According to Frankl, all of the people in the camp felt two initial emotions while entering the camps- humor a...

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...t impetus. He proves this idea by saying "a man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears […] will never be able to throw away his life” (127). This statement emphasizes the idea that as long as a person has a will to meaning in their life, something to live for, that they will never be so hopeless that they will give up on life. Finally, Frankl’s last main point of logotherapy is that every person has the freedom to find a meaning for their life and then change their life according to this will to meaning. Frankl makes it known that a person can find their meaning by performing an endeavor, being subjected to a value, or by suffering. Overall, Frankl’s theory of logotherapy can be used to help a person overcome the anxiety associated with finding a meaning to their life.

Works Cited

Frankl, Viktor. Man’s Search for Meaning. Boston: Beacon Press, 2006.

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