Schools of Thought That Influenced Viktor Frankl - Essay Example

?Schools of Thought that Influenced Viktor Frankl Viktor Frankl is one of the most well-known existential psychologists, as well as one of the most active and influential in the 20th century. He called his own psychoanalytic method “logotherapy”, based on the Greek works logos, which is denoted as “meaning” (Frankl 104). While he professes that he was influenced by Freud, Adler and other existential psychologists, he deviated from the original concept of existentialism and created his own existential philosophy and psychotherapy (Corey 143). The most striking uniqueness of Frankl’s school of thought is that he believes that all humans are able to achieve a self-transcendence by putting more focus on others rather than the self, by which a person’s meaning of living would be revealed (Frankl 115). The connections of religious ideas to the school of logotherapy made this concept much more in touch with the spirituality of humans, rather than the biological. Thus, the search of the meaning of living and getting healed by this search was the strong position of the school of logotherapy (Sapp 145) It was in Frankl’s reflections during the time that he was held in concentration camps that he was able to observe which prisoners would be expected to survive longer. Those who had many reasons to keep on living were more likely to work harder in staying alive, compared to those who do not have any clear and solid visions of the future (Frankl 109). He was thus able to conclude that contrary to most psychoanalytic and philosophical ideas of putting more emphasis on the self, it is the struggling and striving for the worthwhile goal that gives meaning and stability to a person (Frankl 109). This is very much in contrast with Freud, Sartre, and even Marx’s ideas as to what would keep a person and the society stable. Comparing Frankl’s ideas with Freud, the latter has beliefs of being selfless, and that the tensions that arise from everyday living gives a person’s life stability. This idea was actually in contrast with the Freudian school of psychoanalysis, wherein there is more focus on attaining needs that were not met, or indulging in pleasure to get healed (Taylor 54). Freud also believes that psychoanalysis is something scientific, not spiritual in nature, and that it has its own language by which the results can be interpreted into what a person must do in order to become stable. His ideas were mostly devoid of any of a human being’s irrational ideas like abstraction and subjectivism, and these were not deemed important. This made Freudian psychoanalysis seem like it puts more focus on a person’s biological make up more than his or her values and belief (Sapp 76). Such views are highly contrastive to Frankl, whose focus on humanistic values made his ideas much more related in looking into the soul or spirit of a person. His ideas gave rise to the term humanistic-existential psychotherapy (Sapp 45). The additional contrast is also attributed to the differences in their styles of psychoanalysis. Freud uses an introspective method of healing his patients, finding out how things came to be, while Frankl uses retrospective methods, which focuses more on why things came to being (Frankl 104). With regards to Sartre’s existentialism, Frankl’s ideas are pretty much comparable, but some ideas are polar opposites. Common existential ideas have a connection with man’s search for meaning, viewing the human being as an entity capable of expressing awareness, having meaning, values and goals, as well as accepting that death is a natural part of life, among others (Sapp 145). While both Frankl and Sartre present the characteristics of human beings such as the ones described above, for Sartre, man is a separate entity, and his choices are his to own, and no other entity could control his choices (Taylor 85). But for Frankl, he believes that man is not entirely an autonomous and separate system, but rather an open system that searches meaning from a higher entity as well as from outside his own system (Frankl 115). In short, while Sartre focuses on man being capable of doing things in his own accord, Frankl does not fully deny that man is responsible for all his choices. However, humans have a primary instinct of attributing things to a greater power, not just for being strong in their struggles in life, but also getting assured of not being alone when striving towards a better future. Frankl’s theories are surely far from similar to Karl Marx’s own beliefs, especially with regards to the fulfillment of needs. Much like Sartre in dismissing the existence of a supreme being in fulfilling human needs, Marx is known for his concept of dialectical materialism, as well as the need for humans to fulfill their basic needs in order to become stable (Sapp 144). By attaining these needs, a person becomes much more rational and stable. In comparison with Frankl, aside from attributing human strengths to future goals as well as a higher being, he believes that a person becomes even more stable when he is struggling for something. The more that person forgets himself, the more he is able to reach self-actualization, ultimately ending in stability (Frankl 115). With such ideas, it is easily revealed how Marxism was not that influential in Frankl’s school of logotherapy. In hindsight, it can be observed that Frankl derived much more of his theories from existentialist and psychoanalysis, not just because he learned from under such schools, but also the similarities of logotherapy to them. For example, the idea is that man is able to live due to primary instincts of staying alive. One of the basic forces of evolution is adapting in order to survive, which can be seen not just in animals but in human beings as well. Much like in psychoanalysis, basic instincts locked in a person’s subconscious and dictated by the id are released because they stifle the person’s capacity to live normally. In terms of existentialist concepts, again, man is seen as an entity that is in constant search for the meaning of life. However, he has greater command over what he thinks, believes in, does, and achieves. He can also define his own identity by establishing his own values and belief systems. By being able to have control over these things, a human being can choose how he would want to live his life. These ideas are very similar to logotherapy concepts; however there is also the concept of a higher spiritual being to govern a person’s choices, aside from being able to choose freely. There is also the concept of giving one’s self to other people. Much more focus is given on helping other attain their own needs, not just one’s own. By doing so, a person sees greater fulfillment because of an attained self-transcendence, from servicing the self to servicing others. For Frankl, this kind of thinking gives additional value to a person’s actions, values and ideas (Frankl 109). Frankl’s ideas with regards to the search of man’s reason for living, his ideas of fulfillment are related to how a person is able to give his or her self to others. There is much more meaning in a person’s actions if there is an emphasis on others, and because of that, there is value being created with regards to a person’s reasons for living. In contrast to the Marxist school of thought, there is more emphasis in attaining the needs of an individual. Being materialistic is the driving force of humans in order to keep on living. There is greater emphasis on an individual’s success, not on the successes of other people. Frankl’s logotherapy school of thought is a movement that brings focus on a person’s reasons for living. It can be seen from logotherapy ideas the concepts and ideas that bear semblance to existentialist and psychoanalytic movement, hence giving away its roots. Logotherapy is also distinct from the Marxist ideas of materialism and individualism, thus showing that Frankl is not influenced by Marx when logotherapy was established. Works Cited Corey, Gerald. Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, 2012. Print. Frankl, Viktor. Man's Search for Meaning: an Introduction to Logotherapy. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1992. Print. Sapp, Marty. Psychodynamic, Affective, and Behavioral Theories to Psychotherapy. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publisher, 2010. Print. Taylor, Eugene. The Mystery of Personality: A History of Psychodynamic Theories. New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media, 2009. Print. Read More