Reaction Paper: Victor E. Frankl Man's Search for Meaning
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| Assignment Type | Term Paper |
|---|---|
| Subject | Jewish Studies |
| Academic Level | Undergraduate |
| Citation Style | N/A |
| Length | 3 pages |
| Word Count | 920 |
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Man's Search for Meaning: Reaction Paper
Introduction
Man’s Search for Meaning was originally written in 1946 in German; the books title was originally Ein Psycholog erlebt das Konzentrationslager, and the title of the first English language translation was From Death-Camp to Existentialism. The books common full English title is Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy. This extraordinary book was written by Viktor Frankl, a holocaust survivor; neurologist, psychiatrist and of course author. While the beginning of the book talks about what day to day life was like for an average prisoner in a concentration camp, the second part of the book discusses why Frankl himself chose to live and the psychological methods he developed to understand what was happening to him. That method is known as logotherapy and it defines how we go about finding meaning in our lives, in this particular case when there seems to be very little to live for. The book is a profound statement of will and understanding and descriptions of his experiences that send shivers down the spine, for example on first seeing Auschwitz, “long columns of ragged human figures, grey in the greyness of dawn.” (p.20)
The most significant aspect of Frankl’s work is the fundamental understanding he expresses, of human nature including his own, that of the other prisoners and also of the Capo who were inmates that were chosen by the Nazi’s to oversee and abuse their brethren. The book is filled with profound insights into the human spirit of both a good nature and bad and these insights form the basis of his will to survive the camp and also are the fundamental principles of what has become known as existential therapy and humanistic psychology. His insights, his perspective as a psychiatrist and his eloquent prose make his writing a unique perspective of life in a concentration camp.
Frankl’s Psychology
To help the reader understand the psychology of entering and living within a concentration camp amidst all the horrors therein, Frankl breaks the psychological process down to three stages; the first is shock, the second apathy, and the final stage, depersonalization. During the shock stage of Frankl’s psychology there is still hope amongst the prisoners, a sense of irony and the mind is still lucid and rational enough to believe that the insanity of the situation cannot prevail in a rational and sane world. He then describes what it was like in the apathy stage to be beaten or hit by a guard for example, in such a way that the reader understands what it was like to be humiliated and to be treated with injustice even while every minute of the day there is injustice going on around you to which you are completely desensitized. That desensitization Frankl tells us, was absolutely necessary for survival. Depersonalization is the experience endured upon release, when everything is changed and often the expected reunification with loved ones doesn’t happen because family members have disappeared or are dead.
Frankl did survive the holocaust and in the process developed a psychological theory called logotherapy which surmises that the will to live is founded upon the ability to find meaning in life. Although Frankl does not elaborate too much on the premise of logotherapy in his book, it is apparent that this psychology helps him to understand what is happening to himself and to others throughout the novel. It also alludes to how he determined the nature of the people in the camp, between those who were evil and those who were good, because it was the meaning that they had for living that determined their actions and choices. In Frankl’s final days of imprisonment and in his life afterwards a significant aspect of meaning in his life was to share these ideas with the goal of helping others. Despite all of the torture and misery he had to endure he was still capable of seeing, respecting and appreciating the goodness in people or between those who are in Frankl’s view either decent or indecent. Of his deep and emotive portrayal of the life in a concentration camp he writes, "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
Conclusion
From a tragic scenario Frankl creates something good and positive and thus he epitomizes the decency he ascribes to one part of humanity in his deeply moving story of life in a concentration camp. By breaking the psychology of imprisonment and torture into three phases he helps us to understand the deep emotional and mental transformation that occurs and forever and profoundly alters a human being. He offers us insights into humanity and the driving force behind the will to live in an incredible and tragically true story of survival. Man’s Search for Meaning is a most appropriate title for this book. It is more about the workings of the human soul, the reasons to survive and the essence of what matters, more than anything else. Frankl tells that story with profound intellectual and emotional insight and offers it in the form of logotherapy, so others can continue to benefit from his philosophical and practical insights.
Introduction
Man’s Search for Meaning was originally written in 1946 in German; the books title was originally Ein Psycholog erlebt das Konzentrationslager, and the title of the first English language translation was From Death-Camp to Existentialism. The books common full English title is Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy. This extraordinary book was written by Viktor Frankl, a holocaust survivor; neurologist, psychiatrist and of course author. While the beginning of the book talks about what day to day life was like for an average prisoner in a concentration camp, the second part of the book discusses why Frankl himself chose to live and the psychological methods he developed to understand what was happening to him. That method is known as logotherapy and it defines how we go about finding meaning in our lives, in this particular case when there seems to be very little to live for. The book is a profound statement of will and understanding and descriptions of his experiences that send shivers down the spine, for example on first seeing Auschwitz, “long columns of ragged human figures, grey in the greyness of dawn.” (p.20)
The most significant aspect of Frankl’s work is the fundamental understanding he expresses, of human nature including his own, that of the other prisoners and also of the Capo who were inmates that were chosen by the Nazi’s to oversee and abuse their brethren. The book is filled with profound insights into the human spirit of both a good nature and bad and these insights form the basis of his will to survive the camp and also are the fundamental principles of what has become known as existential therapy and humanistic psychology. His insights, his perspective as a psychiatrist and his eloquent prose make his writing a unique perspective of life in a concentration camp.
Frankl’s Psychology
To help the reader understand the psychology of entering and living within a concentration camp amidst all the horrors therein, Frankl breaks the psychological process down to three stages; the first is shock, the second apathy, and the final stage, depersonalization. During the shock stage of Frankl’s psychology there is still hope amongst the prisoners, a sense of irony and the mind is still lucid and rational enough to believe that the insanity of the situation cannot prevail in a rational and sane world. He then describes what it was like in the apathy stage to be beaten or hit by a guard for example, in such a way that the reader understands what it was like to be humiliated and to be treated with injustice even while every minute of the day there is injustice going on around you to which you are completely desensitized. That desensitization Frankl tells us, was absolutely necessary for survival. Depersonalization is the experience endured upon release, when everything is changed and often the expected reunification with loved ones doesn’t happen because family members have disappeared or are dead.
Frankl did survive the holocaust and in the process developed a psychological theory called logotherapy which surmises that the will to live is founded upon the ability to find meaning in life. Although Frankl does not elaborate too much on the premise of logotherapy in his book, it is apparent that this psychology helps him to understand what is happening to himself and to others throughout the novel. It also alludes to how he determined the nature of the people in the camp, between those who were evil and those who were good, because it was the meaning that they had for living that determined their actions and choices. In Frankl’s final days of imprisonment and in his life afterwards a significant aspect of meaning in his life was to share these ideas with the goal of helping others. Despite all of the torture and misery he had to endure he was still capable of seeing, respecting and appreciating the goodness in people or between those who are in Frankl’s view either decent or indecent. Of his deep and emotive portrayal of the life in a concentration camp he writes, "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
Conclusion
From a tragic scenario Frankl creates something good and positive and thus he epitomizes the decency he ascribes to one part of humanity in his deeply moving story of life in a concentration camp. By breaking the psychology of imprisonment and torture into three phases he helps us to understand the deep emotional and mental transformation that occurs and forever and profoundly alters a human being. He offers us insights into humanity and the driving force behind the will to live in an incredible and tragically true story of survival. Man’s Search for Meaning is a most appropriate title for this book. It is more about the workings of the human soul, the reasons to survive and the essence of what matters, more than anything else. Frankl tells that story with profound intellectual and emotional insight and offers it in the form of logotherapy, so others can continue to benefit from his philosophical and practical insights.