Victor Frankl. Man s Search for Meaning

Transcription

1 Victor Frankl Man s Search for Meaning 1

2 Biography: Victor Frankl Viktor Emil Frankl (March 26, 1905, September 2, 1997) Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist Holocaust survivor Founder of Logotherapy 2

3 His best-selling book, Man s Search for Meaning chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate which led him to discover the importance of finding meaning in all forms of existence, even the most difficult ones 3

4 On October 19, 1944, Frankl, with his wife, Tilly, was transported to the Auschwitz He was processed and then he was moved to Dachau where he arrived on October 25, There he was to spend 5 months working as a "slave-laborer". In March 1945, he worked as a doctor until April 27, 1945, until liberated by the Americans. 4

5 Meanwhile, his wife, Tilly, was transferred from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen where she died. His mother, Elsa, was killed by the Nazis in the gas chambers of Auschwitz, His brother, Walter, died working in a mine part of Auschwitz. Frankl's immediate relatives, the only survivor of the Holocaust was his sister, Stella, who had escaped from Austria by emigrating to Australia. 5

6 In 1947 he married his second wife Eleonore Katharina Schwindt. They had one daughter, Gabriele 6

7 Logotherapy Logos = Greek for word, study, meaning Psychotherapy based upon finding meaning in life 7

8 Freud = A will to pleasure Adler = A will to power Frankl = A will to meaning 8

9 Decisions We decide How we will react to situations Our attitude in situations This makes us who we are 9

10 Concentration Camps Why do some survive and some do not? Their attitude! We are not things We are free beings no matter what 10

11 Despair D = S M Despair is suffering without meaning We must find meaning in our suffering We must have something to live for 11

12 Conscience He sees conscience as a type of spirituality, It is the core of our being The source of our personal integrity 12

13 He says:... Being human is being responsible -- existentially responsible, responsible for one s own existence. It refers to a real person in a real situation, 13

14 Existential Vacuum Favorite metaphor If meaning is what we desire, when we don t find it there is a vacuum, an emptiness, in our lives We try to fill it with something 14

15 The most obvious signs of existential vacuum in our society is boredom. When we finally have the time to do what we want, We don t seem to want to o anything! Can t figure out what to do 15

16 We might try to fill our lives with Pleasure Eating Sex Money Power Busy-ness 16

17 We might also fill our lives with neurotic vicious cycles, whatever we do, it is never enough. 17

18 Finding Meaning So how do we find meaning? Frankl discusses three broad approaches. 18

19 Experiential Values Experiencing something - or someone - we value. 19

20 Creative Values A second means of discovering meaning is through creative values by doing a deed It includes the creativity A Great Work 20

21 Attitudinal Values Our attitude toward life Positive Reflective Sensitive to needs of others Non Judgmental We find value by living this way 21

22 This sets Frankel s existentialism apart from the atheistic existentialism of someone like Jean Paul Sartre Who focuses upon the here and now There is nothing beyond this Life s ultimate meaninglessness 22

23 Transcendence Ultimate meaning in life Not dependent on others Not dependent on our projects Not dependent even on our dignity. It is a reference to God and ultimate spiritual meaning. 23

24 We might not be able to intellectually understand transcendence But we might be able to experience it Emotionally Spiritually Belief 24

25 Meaning in Life Man can endure any how If he has a why! We must all find our own meaning to our lives 25

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