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Man's Search for Meaning

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1946 book by Viktor Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning Second edition (1947)<br>AuthorViktor E. FranklOriginal titleEin Psychologe erlebt das KonzentrationslagerTranslatorIlse Lasch (Part One)LanguageGermanGenreAutobiography, psychotherapyPublisherVerlag für Jugend und Volk (Austria)<br>Beacon Press (English)Publication date1946 (Vienna, Austria)<br>1959 (United States)Publication placeAustriaPages200ISBN080701429XOCLC233687922Followed byThe Doctor and the Soul: From Psychotherapy in Logotherapy<br>Man's Search for Meaning (German: ... trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen. Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager, lit. '... Say Yes to Life nonetheless: A Psychologist Experiences the Concentration Camp') is a 1946 book by Viktor Frankl chronicling his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose to each person's life through one of three ways: the completion of tasks, caring for another person, or finding meaning by facing suffering with dignity.

Frankl observed that among the fellow inmates in the concentration camp, those who survived were able to connect with a purpose in life to feel positive about and who then immersed themselves in imagining that purpose in their own way, such as conversing with an (imagined) loved one. According to Frankl, the way a prisoner imagined the future affected their longevity.

The book intends to answer the question "How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?" Part One constitutes Frankl's analysis of his experiences in the concentration camps, while Part Two introduces his ideas of meaning and his theory for the link between people's health and their sense of meaning in life. He called this theory logotherapy, and there are now multiple logotherapy institutes around the world.

According to a survey conducted by the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Library of Congress, Man's Search for Meaning belongs to a list of "the ten most influential books in the United States."[1] At the time of the author's death in 1997, the book had sold over 10 million copies and had been translated into 24 languages.[2][3]

Editions<br>[edit]

The book's original title is<br>Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager ("A Psychologist Experiences the Concentration Camp").<br>Later German editions prefixed the title with Trotzdem Ja zum Leben Sagen ("Nevertheless Saying Yes to Life"), taken from a line in Das Buchenwaldlied, a song written by Friedrich Löhner-Beda while an inmate at Buchenwald.[4]<br>The title of the first English-language translation was From Death-Camp to Existentialism. The book's common full English title is Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy , although this subtitle is often not printed on the cover of modern editions.[5]

Experiences in a concentration camp<br>[edit]

Frankl identifies three psychological reactions experienced by all inmates to one degree or another:

Shock during the initial admission phase to the camp,

Apathy after becoming accustomed to camp existence, in which the inmate values only that which helps himself and his friends survive, and

Reactions of depersonalization, moral deformity, bitterness, and disillusionment if he survives and is liberated.[6]

Frankl concludes that the meaning of life is found in every moment of living; life never ceases to have meaning, even in suffering and death. In a group therapy session during a mass fast inflicted on the camp's inmates trying to protect an anonymous fellow inmate from fatal retribution by authorities, Frankl offered the thought that for everyone in a dire condition there is someone looking down, a friend, family member, or even God, who would expect not to be disappointed. Frankl concludes from his experience that a prisoner's psychological reactions are not solely the result of the conditions of his life, but also from the freedom of choice he always has even in severe suffering. The inner hold a prisoner has on his spiritual self relies on having a hope in the future, and that once a prisoner loses that hope, he is doomed.

Frankl also concludes that there are only two races of men, decent men and indecent. No society is free of either of them, and thus there were decent Nazi guards and indecent prisoners, most notably the kapo who would torture and abuse their fellow prisoners for personal gain.

His concluding passage in Part One describes the psychological reaction of the...