Viktor Frankl’s Insight into Meaning
As Norman Cousins once preached, “The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live.” Although just the thought to address positive outcomes of the indisputable tragedy of the Holocaust can be a gruesome notion to grasp, historians have acknowledged that some societal contributions can be traced back to the atrocious era, such as extreme medical advancements and significant scientific discoveries. However, one positive outcome that is far overlooked is the psychological advancements that took place. Whereas the aforementioned notable effects have had a direct impact on millions of individuals worldwide, the direct impact of the repugnant experience on select individuals, such …show more content…
Throughout the duration of Frankl’s time in a concentration camp, he was put through the most extreme psychological tests where he came to fathom what was the single most important factor in determining the fate of a Holocaust victim: an understanding, or lack thereof, of their meaning of life. Coinciding with Cousins’ quote, the meaning of life was eradicating inside of internment victims and the death became subsequently meaningless as utter apathy was typically reached by that point. Virtually all of the survivors were able to persevere through the barbaric conditions by fulfilling the expectations of Frankl’s proposed idea of logotherapy, the belief that striving to find a meaning in one's life is the most powerful …show more content…
Frankl proposes is problematic for many individuals, including myself, as there is no same answer for every person. As the author articulates in the preface, “...if hundreds of thousands of people reach out for a book whose very title promises to deal with the question of a meaning to life, it must be a question that burns under the fingernails” (Frankl XIII). There is no finite number of meanings in life; Dr. Frankl proposes three general sources of meaning—work with purpose, love, and freedom of responsibility—but assures that every individual must find their own interpretation of one or multiple of these meanings, and he even reprimands the notion of generalized inferences from the sources of meaning. I found myself to be a major victim of this objective cognition confinement when attempting to devise my current prominent source of the meaning of life up until Dr. Frankl proposed a new perspective for searching by simply stating, “We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life — daily and hourly” (77). Although a miniscule part of the book, this insight allows for a complete change of perspectives for millions of individuals worldwide who are seeking to discover their meaning of life. Far too
As Norman Cousins once preached, “The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live.” Although just the thought to address positive outcomes of the indisputable tragedy of the Holocaust can be a gruesome notion to grasp, historians have acknowledged that some societal contributions can be traced back to the atrocious era, such as extreme medical advancements and significant scientific discoveries. However, one positive outcome that is far overlooked is the psychological advancements that took place. Whereas the aforementioned notable effects have had a direct impact on millions of individuals worldwide, the direct impact of the repugnant experience on select individuals, such …show more content…
Throughout the duration of Frankl’s time in a concentration camp, he was put through the most extreme psychological tests where he came to fathom what was the single most important factor in determining the fate of a Holocaust victim: an understanding, or lack thereof, of their meaning of life. Coinciding with Cousins’ quote, the meaning of life was eradicating inside of internment victims and the death became subsequently meaningless as utter apathy was typically reached by that point. Virtually all of the survivors were able to persevere through the barbaric conditions by fulfilling the expectations of Frankl’s proposed idea of logotherapy, the belief that striving to find a meaning in one's life is the most powerful …show more content…
Frankl proposes is problematic for many individuals, including myself, as there is no same answer for every person. As the author articulates in the preface, “...if hundreds of thousands of people reach out for a book whose very title promises to deal with the question of a meaning to life, it must be a question that burns under the fingernails” (Frankl XIII). There is no finite number of meanings in life; Dr. Frankl proposes three general sources of meaning—work with purpose, love, and freedom of responsibility—but assures that every individual must find their own interpretation of one or multiple of these meanings, and he even reprimands the notion of generalized inferences from the sources of meaning. I found myself to be a major victim of this objective cognition confinement when attempting to devise my current prominent source of the meaning of life up until Dr. Frankl proposed a new perspective for searching by simply stating, “We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life — daily and hourly” (77). Although a miniscule part of the book, this insight allows for a complete change of perspectives for millions of individuals worldwide who are seeking to discover their meaning of life. Far too