Man's Search for Meaning
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is among the most influential works of psychiatric literature since Freud. The book begins with a lengthy, austere and deeply moving personal essay about Frankl's imprisonment in Auschwitz and other concentration camps for five years and his struggle during this time to find reasons to live. The second part of the book, called "Logotherapy in a Nutshell" describes the psychotherapeutic method that Frankl pioneered as a result of his experiences in the concentration camps. Freud believed that sexual instincts and urges were the driving force of humanity's life; Frankl, by contrast, believes that man's deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose. Therefore, Frankl's logotherapy is much more compatible with western religions than Freudian psychotherapy. This is a fascinating, sophisticated and very human book. At times, Frankl's personal and professional discourses merge into a style of tremendous power. "Our generation is realistic, for we have come to know man as he really is", Frankl writes. "After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord's Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips." --Christine Buttery
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Gerald F. Kreyche
De Paul University
"Man's Search for Meaning" is the story of a man who became a number who became a person. Today Frankl is one of the most famous and gifted of all psychiatrists. Frankl developed his ideas now generally known as the Third School of Viennese Psychiatry -- the school of logotherapy. The incredible attempts to dehumanize man at the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Dachau led Frankl to commence the humanization of psychiatry through logotherapy. Frankl is a professional who possesses the rare ability to write in a layman's language.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
THIS BOOK DOES NOT CLAIM TO BE an account of facts and events but of personal experiences, experiences which millions of prisoners have suffered time and again. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
THIS BOOK DOES NOT CLAIM TO BE an account of facts and events but of personal experiences, experiences which millions of prisoners have suffered time and again. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
90 of 91 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In my opinion, "Man's search for meaning" (1946) is a very interesting book, that will leave you with some practical knowledge easy to apply in your daily life. In a nutshell, and if you aren't feeling like reading a more or less long review, the main idea of this book is that "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how".
The above quoted phrase is from Nietzsche, but don't jump to conclusions: Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) certainly does not share his philosophical ideas. Frankl merely chose one of Nietzsche's phrases as a way to crystallize his own ideas: that is, that the most important force in a person's life is his will to meaning. In a way, this book shows how Frankl reached that conclusion.
The first part of "Man's search for meaning" deals with the author's experiences in a concentration camp, and the lessons he draw from that torturous experience. Frankl said that those that survived had one thing in common, a purpose, and that "everything can be taken from 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 no matter the circumstance".
In the second part of this book, Frankl explains logotheraphy, the theory of psychotherapy he developed. According to the author, logotherapy focuses on the meaning of human existence as well as on a person's search for such meaning, and the consequent purpose. Frankl says that "The meaning of life always changes, but... it never ceases to be", and that we really find ourselves when we find it, or at least our own personal version of it. Furthermore, he also says that "the meaning of our existence is not invented by ourselves, but rather detected," and that logos, or "meaning", is not only merely something emerging from existence itself but rather something confronting said existence. The author also points out that logotherapy gives great importance to responsibility, due to the fact that "each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible."
It is pertinent to highlight the fact that logotheraphy differs strongly from other two well-known schools of psychoteraphy, Freudian psychoanalysis (that centers on the will to pleasure), and Adlerian psychology (that focuses on the will to power). From my point of view, Frankl perspective makes for a much better explanation...
All in all, I highly recommend this book. I like the central place that Frankl gives to responsibility, and the idea that man "does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment". In my opinion, "Man's search for meaning" is interesting, but specially and most importantly, it makes sense...
60 of 61 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"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". This, in essence, summarises the main thrust of this extraordinary book as well as Frankl's psychotherapy. I have spent the last year doing a counselling course and have read innumerable books and have been introduced to innumerable psychological theories, yet none have touched me so profoundly nor changed my perspective so radically as this slim book which Frankl wrote in 9 days and which has become an international bestseller. Unlike so many theoreticians, Frankl lived by what he preached. During his two and a half years spent in four different concentration camps, he came to realise that those who survive the terrors of life are not the physically strong or physically healthy, but those who have an internal strength, who are able to find a sense of meaning and purpose 'within' adversity. Frankl quotes Nietzsche to make this point, 'he who has a why to live for, can bear with almost any how'. Half the book is autobiograhpical, the other half outlines the basics of his theory, demonstrating once again that his life reflected his thinking and vice versa. In a world where despair and a sense of meaninglessness seem to torment us more each day, Frankl's words are more pertinent than ever.
58 of 59 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
One of the greatest books of the 20th century. Some time in the future, when humans finally turn off the TV and start asking themselves why the hell they're here in the firstplace, this book might be of great assistence. Best read annually.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
One of the best books I have ever read.
As an Ambassador for the Holocaust Educational Trust and a Psychology student, I was more than intrigued when this book was recommended to me. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Imogen
man's search for meaning.
Worth reading. Important life messages for anyone who is interested in psychology. Written in an accessible way, informative and enlightening.
Published 1 month ago by karen
Insightful and gripping
It has been a long time since I read a book cover to cover in a matter of days but that was the case with 'Man's search for meaning'. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Existential quandry
Humbling is not the word..
Honest, painful, humbling..I could go on.
Its hard to know whether Victors training as a psychiatrist or his genetics or both, contributed to his ability to see the wood from... Read more
Its hard to know whether Victors training as a psychiatrist or his genetics or both, contributed to his ability to see the wood from... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Bluesky
A truly moving and enlightening read
This is a deeply moving and well written book. Not dry and dusty from a professor coming up with theories as to why we search for meaning in our lives, but a survivor of horror. Read more
Published 1 month ago by MG
Important, Relevant and Brilliant
This is really an inspiring read particularly for anyone working in the field of psychotherapy or counselling. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sunny Boshoff
Meaning and life
A disturbing but ultimately hopeful story of man's ability to survive and even to thrive ultimately despite cruelty and hardship.
Published 2 months ago by dan
Can only enhance personal & professional practice
This book was an excellant read and as a practitioner in mental health I feel it not only enhances professional practice, but also improves personal development. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jimmy
Mans search for meaning
An easy to read book that is one psychiatrists experience in the concentration camps and the new type of therapy he developed as a result of this. Read more
Published 3 months ago by want more
an eyeopener!
I was recommended to read this book while reading 'The Happiness Trap' Its about human survival in the concentration camps. Read more
Published 3 months ago by CJ from Kent
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