Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy

Frankl, Viktor E.

ISBN 10: 1433292173 ISBN 13: 9781433292170

Publisher: Blackstone Pub, 2009

Synopsis

Man's Search for Meaning is the chilling yet inspirational story of Viktor Frankl's struggle to hold on to hope during the unspeakable horrors of his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps. Frankl's training as a psychiatrist informed every waking moment of his ordeal and lent him a remarkable perspective on the psychology of survival. As a result of these experiences, Dr. Frankl developed a revolutionary approach to psychotherapy known as logotherapy. At the core of his theory is the belief that man's primary motivational force is his search for meaning. Frankl's assertion that "the will to meaning" is the basic motivation for human life has forever changed the way we understand our humanity in the face of suffering.

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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. Frankl's logotherapy, therefore, 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."

From the Back Cover

Internationally renowned psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl endured years of unspeakable horror in Nazi death camps. During, and partly because of, his suffering, Dr. Frankl developed a revolutionary approach to psychotherapy known as logotherapy. At the core of his theory is the belief that man's primary motivational force is his search for meaning.

Cited in Dr. Frankl's New York Times obituary in 1997 as "an enduring work of survival literature," Man's Search for Meaning is more than the story of Viktor E. Frankl's triumph: it is a remarkable blend of science and humanism and "an introduction to the most significant psychological movement of our day" (Gordon W. Allport).

Edition details

• Publisher: Blackstone Pub
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1433292173
• ISBN 13: 9781433292170
• Binding: Preloaded Digital Audio Player
• Language: English