The Leaning to Meaning: Frankls Mans Search for Meaning - Essay Example

The Leaning to Meaning: a Study of Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning Man have long questioned the essence of his existence. The search for meaning seems boundless and daunting in the sense that people don't know where to begin and where to end in this valiant search for the existential truth. Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) is an Austrian psychiatrist who developed a form of existential psychotherapy known as "logotherapy". Logotherapy is based on Frankl's theory that the underlying need of human existence is to find meaning in life. Logos is a Greek word for "meaning" and therapy means "to heal" (Microsoft Encarta 2005). The importance that meaning and values have in human life was mostly the concentration of Viktor Frankl's works. In his best-known book, Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy (1962; translated into English, 1997), Frankl described how he and other prisoners in the concentration camps found meaning in their lives and summoned the will to survive. The remainder of the book outlines the theory and practice of logotherapy. In addition to its influence on the field of psychotherapy, Man's Search for Meaning (1997) found an enormous readership among the general public. By the time of Frankl's death, it had sold more than 10 million copies in 24 languages. Frankl published 31 other books on his psychological theories. It points out some pathological phenomena that result from the frustration of the quest for meaning and describes principles of logotherapy to deal with them (Microsoft Encarta 2005). People characterize some of their experiences as meaningful and others as absurd or meaningless. Some people experience their entire lives as full of meaning, whereas others see theirs as futile and pointless. What makes an experience meaningful What makes it seem meaningless What gives meaning to a whole life These questions have always intrigued thoughtful people as well as professional philosophers, poets, creative writers, and some psychologists. They have acquired a special significance today because many clients seeking professional help suffer from a sense of emptiness, meaninglessness, and alienation--a condition that has been called existential neurosis (Maddi, 1970). In addition to existential neurosis, a feeling of emptiness, meaninglessness, and boredom are prominent features of a number of other psychiatric syndromes from depression to dissociative disorders (Levin, 1987). Meanings and values also play a significant role in defining one's sense of self and identity (Baumeister, 1991). Lack of meaning and value may result in an amorphous or a fragile sense of self as is often found in borderline personality disorders. On the other hand, surplus meaning and an excess of value placed on the self may strain its resources to the limits and lead to various forms of escape behaviors. Frankl recognized that human beings are subject to a wide variety of limiting conditions and influences--biological, psychological, and sociocultural--however, he did not believe that these limiting conditions and influences totally determine an individual's response to his or her life situation. No matter what these conditions are, an individual can take a stand against them. He cited their own experience in Nazi concentration camps as evidence of man's capacity to rise above the most adverse circumstances. According to Frankl (1969), he and his fellow campmates thought as human beings, they have the capacity to resist not only external circumstances but also our own physical and psychological drives. In doing so, they essentially opened up a new dimension of existence, namely, the dimension of meaning. One enters this dimension whenever one is reflecting upon oneself, when they were exactly held as prisoners in the concentration camps. Frankl regarded the will to meaning as an authentic and genuine human phenomenon and not as a neurotic symptom of unconscious conflicts. Rather than dismiss the will to meaning as a neurotic phenomenon, Frankl used it as an important psychotherapeutic principle. In his view, the will to meaning can not only preserve mental and physical health, it may help an individual survive extreme -conditions of pain, suffering, and grief. This will to meaning helped Frankl and others survive the horrors of Nazi concentration camps (Frankl, 1969) In addition, Frankl developed some attitudinal survival techniques, he said "If you want to stay alive, there is only one way: look fit for work" (1997, p. 32). This just means that in order to survive the rigors of living, you must live a healthy life and be fit in all aspects: intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical. Also, he stated that "The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved [imagination]" (p. 49). Frankl emphasizes the importance of love and being loved in return and even described it as a saving grace for humans. Love is indeed the key to man's ultimate happiness and contentment. Furthermore, Frankl elaborated on that "As the inner life of the prisoner tended to become more intense, he also experienced the beauty of art and nature as ever before," (p. 50). True enough, being held as a captive would give you the extreme yearning to be free and when freedom is attained the beauty of life becomes sweeter and he or she appreciates more the things that life has to offer. More importantly, Frankl elevates the importance of humor as he said "Humor was another of the soul's weapons in the fight for self-preservation," (p. 54). Life's intricacies and complexities would be eased out if we know how to laugh and humor ourselves in the face of hardships and tribulations. It is such a weapon that does not hurt but levitates the soul and feeds the heart. The seeming contradiction of Frankl's suggestion to let "fate take its course" (p. 65) and his later assertion that "Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom" (p. 74) denotes that a human being's most basic and primary motivation is not self-actualization; but finding as much meaning in existence as possible and realizing as much value as possible. The striving for self-actualization emphasized by humanistic psychologists was regarded by Frankl as a lower level of human functioning. In his view, it could not possibly be the ultimate purpose or the final goal of life. As is true of other subjective conditions such as pleasure or happiness, self-fulfillment cannot be attained by directly pursuing it. As one strives to discover meaning and value in life, one may also find fulfillment as a by-product. Notably, Frankl used famous quotes from writers who maintained the existential traditions. For instance, "There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings." (p. 75, Fyodor Dostoevski), this means he holds no fear in the face of death but it is the meaning of how he will die is what's more important. He also quoted Rainer Maria Rilke by saying "How much suffering there is to get through," (p. 86) as he reflects on the meaning of suffering. As one could realize, meaning may be squeezed out even from suffering, and that is the very reason why life remains potentially meaningful in spite of everything. But is this to say that suffering is indispensable for finding a meaning to life. Lastly, Frankl borrowed the words of Friedrich Nietzsche as he ponders on "that which does not kill me, makes me stronger," (p. 89). The frustration of the will to meaning leads to a condition that Frankl called existential vacuum. An individual in a state of existential vacuum may feel that his or her life has lost all meaning. If this state of existence is prolonged, one may develop a disorder that Frankl called noogenic neurosis. To distinguish it from psychogenic disorders, Frankl maintained that a noogenic neurosis may be compounded by psychoneurotic symptoms and that an existential vacuum may underlie other forms of psychological disorders. He emphasized that an existential vacuum itself is not a mental disorder; rather it represents spiritual distress No doubt, our industrialized society is out to satisfy all human needs, and its companion, consumer society, is even out to create ever new needs to satisfy; but the most human need--the need to find and fulfill a meaning in our lives--is frustrated by this society. In the wake of industrialization, urbanization tends to uproot man from traditions and to alienate him from those values which are transmitted by the traditions (Frankl, 1997). Meanings serve a number of important functions in human life. First of all, meanings provide a purpose for our lives. Second, they furnish values or standards by which to judge our actions. Third, theft gives us a sense of control over the events in our life. Lastly, they provide us with self-worth. When people are unable to find meaning for any of these functions or when they lose or outgrow the meanings that they once had, they become distressed. Many emotional problems result from a failure to find meaning in life and can be resolved only through finding something to make life worth living (Das, 1998). Usually, people function at work, social relationships, interests, family, and religion to provide meanings in the lives they lead. When things are going smoothly in these areas of life, people experience their lives as meaningful. People often feel connected with life and thus, have a reason to live and a healthy desire to continue to strive for goals that make sense and incentives that keep their energies focused. People in these circumstances generally do not question the meaning of life or their particular place in the scheme of things. However, when things go awry or their lives have gone haywire, people may begin to question the meaning of life because the assumptions on which they had built their lives are shaken up or being put into a test. According to Frankl (1963), the counselor's task is not to teach or preach to the client but to extend his or her vision so as to bring the whole spectrum of values and meanings in view. With this, Frankl quotes Albert Einstein (1950): "To be religious is to have found an answer to the question, what is the meaning of life" And offered another definition by Ludwig Wittgenstein (1960) that said: "To believe in God is to see that life has a meaning." Works Cited Baumeister, R. F. Meanings of life. New York: Guilford Press, 1991. Das, A.K. Frankl and the realm of meaning, Journal of Humanistic Education & Development, vol. 36, no. 4, June 1998. Frankl, V. E. The will to meaning. New York: Plume Books, 1969. Frankl, V. E. Man's search for meaning. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Perseus Books, 1997. Levin, D. M. (Ed.). Pathologies of the modern self. New York: New York University Press, 1987. Maddi, S. The search for meaning. In W. Arnold and M. Page (Eds.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. (Vol. 18, pp. 137-186). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1970. Viktor Frankl. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2005 CD-ROM. Acquired last October 4, 2005. Read More