Book Review: Man's Search for Meaning (Victor Frankl)

Abstract

A Book Review on Man's Search for Meaning (Victor Frankl) Victor Frankl, (New York, NY: Washington Square Press), 1984, 221 pages, ISBN: 9780671667368. Humans in suffering tend to feel hopeless with a deep sense of failure. MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING (Frankl, 1984) is a helpful book during such times: it is highly probable that one would find a solution to their depressed feelings, if the book is read actively. Written by Austrian neurologist-psychiatrist and a Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl, this book is simple yet intense and reflective. Frankl is the founder of Logotherapy, a form of existential psychology. Awarded with several accolades, his books and talks are the most inspiring on finding meaning in life and in suffering. The book stands out extraordinarily as Frankl, by narrating his life instances in the Auschwitz concentration camp, presents the remarkable idea of how we can choose to see a purpose or meaning in any situation, including the worst conditions. He descriptively illustrates his personal experiences and observations of minute human changes which infuses hope into the reader. With rich primary and secondary data, Frankl puts forward his ideas in three sections. The qualitative methodology utilized has smoothly fused his thoughts through these three parts, clarifying Nietzsche words, "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." This book is a collaboration of Frankl's personal experiences and stories, references to other existential forerunners, quotes from humanistic and psychoanalytic schools, and excellent figurative examples. Many pathological terms have been used in the book, which are well explained by the author. The first section describes the brutality every prisoner faced at concentration camps, Frankl being one of them for three years. As he realized their "naked existence, " Frankl begins by explaining how a prisoner passes through three major phases in the camp, and also how each phase transformed the prisoners from their previous lives and how they developed various pathologies. The prisoner was first in a state of shock, which was followed by the phase of developing apathy and finally, on being liberated, prisoners felt depersonalized at first and later manifested strong symptoms in differential ways. Frankl here slowly introduces his first thoughts on these experiences. Though he has toned down the language of brutality, the message comes across loud that it was certainly the worst suffering one could imagine of. At the end of section one, an active reader realizes the true meaning of life, of love (which is fairly depersonalized in the recent decades) and also how thankless we have become toward the little mercies in life. An active reader also learns about "Logotherapy" that the author attempts to explain in the second section. The nature, meaning and goals are well detailed. Even the finest differences between psychoanalysis and Logotherapy are clearly specified. Frankl liberally introduces every concept of Logotherapy (such as the existential vacuum, responsibility of survival, existential frustration). He