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Man's Search For Meaning (Mass Market Paperbac) (平装)
by Viktor E. Frankl
| Category:
Philosophy, Life's meaning, Psychiatric literature, Classics |
| Market price: ¥ 98.00
MSL price:
¥ 78.00
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MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Believing that man's deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose, Viktor E. Frankl's book is fascinating, sophisticated, and human. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 8 items |
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The American Journal of Psychiatry (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-02 00:00>
Perhaps the most significant thinking since Freud and Adler. |
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New York Times (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-02 00:00>
An enduring work of survival literature. |
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Amazon.com (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-02 00:00>
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."
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Matthew Morrison (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-02 00:00>
This is by far the most inspiring book I've ever read. Starting with a firsthand account of the holocaust, and finishing with a psychoanalytical approach to the suffering which took place there, Frankl shows us his ability to objectively analyse and draw conslusions from his own experiences. His story is not one of bitterness, as one might expect, but one of survival, of deep meaning and optimism. He looks back to his holocause experience with the eye of one truly at peace with himself and his life. It is truly beautiful that one can endure such a process, even at times, questioning their will to live, and come out liberated both in body and spirit. In his toughest times, Frankl thought frequently of the love he had for his wife; this love, his meaning to survive when in the depths of hell, gave me a new outlook on my life. Frankl's story is a testament to his own philosophy. That he could survive such a trial, when the mind becomes desensitized, focusing only on the day to day camp regimen, surrounded by death at every turn, is a beautiful and inspiring fact. He allows you into the frame of mind of a holocaust victim, and poses the question of how one, once liberated physically from the camps, could even begin to reenter a society so different from the atmosphere they'd come to know. His ability to find his "will to meaning," and optimistaically help others, through logotherapy, to find a meaning in their lives, is, again, truly inspiring. Unlike some of my fellow reviewers, I find this optimism inspiring and wonderful, not naive and idealistic. We should reward him for having achieved peace in his life, especially after an experience like that, not offer pointless pessimism. This book allows you to take an emotional journey into the holocaust, seeing its effects on the mind, and gives an inspiring and optimistic look toward ways to not only survive that experience, but to turn it into something meaningful. |
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J. Charles Hansen (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-02 00:00>
Frankl tackles a lot of ground in a short space, looking deeply into the profound question of meaning in our lives from the perspective of a Nazi concentration camp survivor.
The first half of this book is a recounting of the authors' experiences as an inmate in various Nazi death camps. My skin crawled reading about the brutality and inhumanity he tells us of. I've heard and read a lot about the concentration camps before, but this first hand experience was very powerful. Frankl had already developed his psychological theory before the internment, so he tells us how his experiences essentially confirmed his view that humans have a need to find personal meaning. He recounts numerous stories from the camps of how hope for the future kept him and his comrades alive. Frankl describes how the prisoners were able to create dreams and plans for the future in order to stay sane and keep their will to live in an environment where it was very easy to give up. What I got out of his recounting of the horrors of the death camps was that even though the Nazi's took away almost all of the basic human necessities we are used to in life, and brutalized their prisoners, they weren't able to control the minds of those imprisoned. We each have the ability to control our own thoughts no matter what the situation - this is our power.
The second half of the book delves into Frankl's formal psychological theory he terms "Logotherapy". He says traditional psychotherapy looks into our past to find cures for current psychological problems. His Logotherapy on the other hand he says helps people through finding hope for the future by getting in touch with the meaning in their lives. I felt his argument was in some ways simplistic in that he suggests those who are depressed and/or suicidal have lost a personal meaning to life - and that they need to find it. That much is probably already evident to the suicidal patient - they already know they have nothing to live for. Telling them to "go find meaning to your life" is surely good advice, but kind of obvious. How do you do it? Frankl does have some suggestions however.
I felt that overall this was a compelling read that challenges the reader to consider what role personal meaning has in their life. |
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C. Middleton (MSL quote), Australia
<2007-11-02 00:00>
Are human beings solely the product of conditional and environmental factors - biological, psychological and sociological - a predetermined being in every respect? Conversely, does the human being ultimately have freedom of choice? Can she/he, then, transcend these so-called deterministic factors, choose how to respond to the world and live with imposed suffering? In the end, is it conceivably possible to find "meaning" in our suffering?
In this book, Dr. Frankl addresses these important questions, illustrating his terrible experiences as an inmate of the Nazi concentration camps, leading to his discovery of "Logotherapy" - a revolutionary approach to psychotherapy, that places emphasis on the human being's "will-to-meaning".
The unmentionable atrocities in the Nazi concentration camps of WWII have been well documented. However, Dr. Frankl does not focus on the atrocities themselves, but the numerous ways his fellow inmates "responded" to the suffering inflicted upon them by their captors. Frankl emphasises that the prisoners of these camps must not be viewed as mere expressions of certain physical and sociological conditions, he writes,
"Even though conditions such as lack of sleep, insufficient food and various mental stresses may suggest that the inmates were bound to react in certain ways, in the final analysis it becomes clear that the sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner decision, and not the result of camp influence alone. Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him - mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp." (P.87)
The inmates' survival and sanity depended upon a fundamental inner decision, a choice, in terms of how they responded, mentally and spiritually, to these indignities. From Frankl's observations of his fellow prisoners and his own experiences, brought him to conclude, that,
"We have stated that that which was, ultimately responsible for the state of the prisoner's inner self was not so much the enumerated psychophysical causes as it was the result of a free decision." (P.90)
Those individuals who discovered meaning in their suffering and a faith in the future, maintained an attitude of survival, and had a better chance at staying alive.
"Man's Search for Meaning" is a powerful text, which explores issues of profound significance, with clarity and humaneness. This is also a highly credible book, because it is written by a man who experienced first hand man's inhumanity to man, and from these unspeakable indignities, discovered a psychology of hope, which can be applied across the entire spectrum of the human condition. |
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A. J. Valasek (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-02 00:00>
In life, very few experiences are better instructors than agony, grief, and pain. In addition, very few people can transcend their personal agony, grief, and pain and turn it into wisdom for everyone to share. Victor Frankl did just that. He took his experiences in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II and used them as a sharpening stone to develop a revolutionary approach to understanding the psyche of humankind.
Although the large majority of this book is about his concentration camp experiences, this book is about hope and meaning. Frankl shows humankind how to approach life in a positive way and to use life to its fullest to not only find meaning, but to create meaning.
This book doesn't belong only in the psychiatry section, it proves its worth by belonging in the philosophy section as well. If you're looking for a shining beacon of hope in a dark world, this book may help you create a spark. If you already have meaning, this book is fuel for your flame and clarity for your vision. Highly recommended. |
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Lee Say Keng (MSL quote), Singapore
<2007-11-02 00:00>
I was introduced to an earlier edition of this book after I had watched Joel Barker's video, 'The Power of Vision' during the early nineties.
The book captured the author's chilling & yet inspirational story of his personal struggle & eventual triumph against unspeakable horror at the Auschwitz concentration camps. His entire family (His father, mother, brother & his wife) perished in the camps, except for his sister.
[Frankly, I did not realise the magnitude of the author's horrendous sufferings - & the Holocaust as a whole - until I personally visited the Auschwitz concentration camps, in the town of Oswiecim, situated about 60 kms from Krakow in southern Poland, with my late wife during the mid-nineties. Auschwitz was actually the German name for the town. I was told by my guide that about 6 million people died in the Auschwitz camps, more than 90% of whom were Jews.]
Because he was a psychiatrist, he was able to observe behaviours at the camps. He noticed that the healthiest, youngest, smartest, & best looking were not automatically the ones who survived.
At this juncture, I would like to quote exactly what he wrote:
"Even though conditions such as lack of sleep, insufficient food & various mental stresses may suggest that the inmates were bound to react in certain ways, in the final analysis it becomes clear that the sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner decision, & not the result of camp influences alone.
Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him - mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp. I became acquainted with those martyrs whose behavior in camp, whose suffering & death, bore witness to the fact that the last inner freedom cannot be lost...
...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...
...Most men in a concentration camp believed that the real opportunities of life had passed. Yet, in reality, there was an opportunity & a challenge. One could make a victory of those experiences, turning life into an inner triumph, or one could ignore the challenge & simply vegetate, as did a majority of the prisoners...
...What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves & 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..."
According to him, in the final analysis, the most significant indicator of survival was that all of those who made it through had something significant yet to do with their lives. In other words, if one has something significant or purposeful or meaningful yet to do with one's life, the chances of survival against hardships, obstacles, setbacks & even death threats, will be much higher. That is to say, man's primary motivational force is his seach for ultimate meaning. Joel Barker calls it the power of vision. According to Barker, a positive vision of the future is what gives meaning to life & a meaningful vision empowers us to solve problems & accomplish goals.
Another productive learning experience for me, from reading the book, is this: one often cannot change the circumstances of one's encounter with any situation, person or event, but one certainly has the power to choose how to interprete it & how to respond to it.
Put it in another way, one's attitude or outlook on life certainly has ramifications on how one can survive - & thrive - in the longer term.
I think I can now appreciate better about what Anthony Robbins once said: "It's in your moment of decision that your destiny is shaped." He added further:
There are three decisions that control our destiny:
- our decisions about what to focus on;
- our decisions about what things mean to us;
- our decisions about what to do to create the results we desire;
Viktor Frankl had also made another profound observation in his book:
"Don't aim at success - the more you aim at it & make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, & it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself."
This resonates very well with what F Buckminster Fuller, recognised as Planet Earth's friendly genius (he created the Geodesic dome), called 'precession' or 'precessional effects' is his book, 'Critical Path'.
On the whole, I have enjoyed very much reading Viktor Frankl's 'Man's Search for Meaning'. Thanks to Joel Barker for the timely introduction! |
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1 Total 1 pages 8 items |
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