Viktor Frankl
Psychiatrist and camp survivor: we find meaning by giving ourselves to a cause, and happiness comes as a by-product.
Life
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997), a Viennese neurologist and psychiatrist, survived four Nazi camps, including Auschwitz; his parents, his brother and his wife died in the camps. He founded logotherapy, which holds that the driving force in human beings is the search for meaning, even in suffering. His account Man's Search for Meaning became one of the most widely read books on the meaning of life.
Main works
An account of camp life and an outline of logotherapy: meaning is found in love, in work, and in the attitude taken toward unavoidable suffering.
Sets out existential analysis and the "noetic" dimension of the person, beyond body and psyche.
In his own words
« If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. »
« Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. »
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceHe speaks of an 'unconscious God': a latent religiousness in every person, which he leaves open to personal faith.
Frankl, The Unconscious God (1948)
Beyond body and psyche, the person has a specifically human 'noetic' dimension of spirit.
Frankl, The Doctor and the Soul (1946)
Humans are conditioned but not determined: even in the camp one keeps the freedom to choose one's attitude.
Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning (1946)
Values are discovered, not invented, and conscience is the organ that senses the unique meaning of a situation.
Frankl, The Will to Meaning (1969)
Meaning is not invented but found: each life situation poses a question that only the person can answer.
Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning (1946)