MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING.

The big question: What meaning does life have for human beings?

According to Viktor Frankl (1905-1997), author of the book “Man’s Search for Meaning”, there is not one single meaning to life, rather there are as many meanings as there are people on Earth. It’s not about the search for an abstract, universal purpose of life; it’s more about looking for a purpose in each of the stages of one’s progression through life. These individual stages will be determined by an overall mission, a greater goal.

The author attempts to answer these and other existential questions aided by the knowledge from his studies and the experiences he lived through in Nazi concentration camps. In doing so, he is continuously probing readers to stop and reflect on the themes of meaning and purpose.

Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist of Jewish tradition; he was also the founder of logotherapy, a branch of psychotherapy which focuses on meaning. Unlike psychoanalysis, which is a more introspective and retrospective study, logotherapy is more interested in our future, aiming to find the value and the purpose of our lives within ourselves.

According to Frankl, “Human existence is always directed to something, or someone, other than itself - be it a meaning to fulfil or another human being to encounter lovingly."

Another fascinating and pragmatic aspect of logotherapy is a technique he developed called “paradoxical intention”. Through this technique, the author helped his patients face their fears, as he believed that the act of fearing something could potentially cause the realization of that which is feared. Conversely, he also attempted to manage his patients’ “hyperintention”, or an excessive desire for something, which itself could impede the achievement of that which is desired. The “paradoxical intention” treatment consisted of leading his patients to face their fears head-on, thereby helping to cure the fear itself.

The knowledge and expertise he demonstrated through his treatments and therapies were fruits of his terrible experiences in four Nazi concentration camps, which Frankl openly shares with his readers in the first part of the book. Using first-person narration, he speaks of the psychological damage to human beings brought about by the extreme treatments he had to live through. 

The book’s themes are particularly relevant today - Frankl’s enquiries into existential meaning should resonate with readers living in an age of great existential vacuum, nihilism, a loss of values and traditions, and a skepticism towards religious dogma and previously accepted norms.

I hope that you will find “Man’s Search for Meaning” as useful as I did, that it will inspire you to reflect on your own life experience - your abilities, your aspirations, your wishes, your limits - in a positive and pragmatic way, towards a path of personal growth. The same reflection can also help us with our fears and insecurities: after an initial process of acceptance and understanding of their origins, we can better confront them, thereby minimizing, controlling and transforming them in our ongoing journey of personal development.