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Man's Search for Meaning Paperback – June 1, 2006
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“This is a book I reread a lot . . . it gives me hope . . . it gives me a sense of strength.”
—Anderson Cooper, Anderson Cooper 360/CNN
This seminal book, which has been called “one of the outstanding contributions to psychological thought” by Carl Rogers and “one of the great books of our time” by Harold Kushner, has been translated into more than fifty languages and sold over sixteen million copies. “An enduring work of survival literature,” according to the New York Times, Viktor Frankl’s riveting account of his time in the Nazi concentration camps, and his insightful exploration of the human will to find meaning in spite of the worst adversity, has offered solace and guidance to generations of readers since it was first published in 1946. At the heart of Frankl’s theory of logotherapy (from the Greek word for “meaning”) is a conviction that the primary human drive is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but rather the discovery and pursuit of what the individual finds meaningful. Today, as new generations face new challenges and an ever more complex and uncertain world, Frankl’s classic work continues to inspire us all to find significance in the very act of living, in spite of all obstacles.
A must-read companion to this classic work, a new, never-before-published work by Frankl entitled Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything, is now available in English.
This book was published with two different covers. Customers will be shipped the book with one of the available covers.
- Print length184 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBeacon Press
- Publication dateJune 1, 2006
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.57 x 8.47 inches
- ISBN-109780807014271
- ISBN-13978-0807014271
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Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.51,201 Kindle readers highlighted thisPopular highlight
Emotion, which is suffering, ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a clear and precise picture of it.47,203 Kindle readers highlighted thisPopular highlight
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. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete.45,809 Kindle readers highlighted this
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"An enduring work of survival literature." —The New York Times
"[Man's Search for Meaning] might well be prescribed for everyone who would understand our time." —Journal of Individual Psychology
"An inspiring document of an amazing man who was able to garner some good from an experience so abysmally bad… Highly recommended." —Library Journal
“This is a book I try to read every couple of years. It’s one of the most inspirational books ever written. What is the meaning of life? What do you have when you think you have nothing? Amazing and heartbreaking stories. This is a book that should be in everyone’s library.”
—Jimmy Fallon
“This is a book I reread a lot . . . it gives me hope . . . it gives me a sense of strength.”
—Anderson Cooper, Anderson Cooper 360/CNN
“One of the great books of our time.” —Harold S. Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People
“One of the outstanding contributions to psychological thought in the last fifty years.”
—Carl R. Rogers (1959)
About the Author
Harold S. Kushner is rabbi emeritus at Temple Israel in Natick, Massachusetts, and the author of bestselling books including When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Living a Life That Matters, and When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough.
William J. Winslade is a philosopher, lawyer, and psychoanalyst who teaches psychiatry, medical ethics, and medical jurisprudence at the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston.
Product details
- ASIN : 0807014273
- Publisher : Beacon Press; 1st edition (June 1, 2006)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 184 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780807014271
- ISBN-13 : 978-0807014271
- Item Weight : 7.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.57 x 8.47 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author
Viktor E. Frankl was professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Vienna Medical School until his death in 1997. He was the founder of what has come to be called the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy (after Freud's psychoanalysis and Adler's individual psychology)—the school of logotherapy.
Born in 1905, Dr. Frankl received the degrees of Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Vienna. During World War II he spent three years at Auschwitz, Dachau and other concentration camps.
Dr. Frankl first published in 1924 in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis and has since published twenty-six books, which have been translated into nineteen languages, including Japanese and Chinese. He was a visiting professor at Harvard, Duquesne, and Southern Methodist Universities. Honorary Degrees have been conferred upon him by Loyola University in Chicago, Edgecliff College, Rockford College, and Mount Mary College, as well as by universities in Brazil and Venezuela. He was a guest lecturer at universities throughout the world and made fifty-one lecture tours throughout the United States alone. He was President of the Austrian Medical Society of Psychotherapy.
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Depression; I believe there are two sources for depression: one source is our own minds, we think ourselves into the depression - at least in this case we know where it is coming from and we should be able to step behind our thoughts and help ourselves move in a better direction. The other source seemingly comes from nowhere; one minute we are okay and the next we are thrown into the depths
* Book = "Transforming Depression: Healing the Soul Through Creativity"- David H. Rosen"
o I would recommend reading this at least through chapter 4, going further than that delves into some deep Jungian psychology which will not likely appeal to everyone. I certainly enjoy Jungian psychology and believe that Jung's work will become more and more important and critical to our understanding as we move forward in this field of psychology. Jung's psychology is really on the borderland between spirit/soul and the science of psychology and it is Jung's work that brought me into this field. However it is quite complex/deep/different and may lose some readers. For a very good intro to Jung's work, I would recommend "The Essential Jung" by Anthony Storr, but this is not light reading as is composed of excerpts from Jung's collected works.
* Book = "Man's Search for Meaning" - Viktor Frankl
o I would recommend this book for two primary reasons: one is it pushes very strongly the message that meaning is essential in our lives - as shown through Victor Frankl's imprisonment in Nazi concentration camps. Frankl comments on how he observed the individuals who gave up the fight and died, and the individuals who persevered - and most importantly what it was that he believes made the difference. The other reason I recommend this book is that it helps the individuals whose thoughts may have led them to depression to realize that things could be worse. Of course there are devastations we may face that can truly be to us, just as bad as a Nazi concentration camps, but for the most part, we often push ourselves into depression for reasons that are somewhat superficial compared to other realities.
Depersonalization Disorder - essentially feeling like you are not really there
* Book = "Feeling Unreal: Depersonalization Disorder and the Loss of the Self" - Daphne Simeon and Jeffrey Abugel
o Excellent book which will help folks understand this disorder. This is for me a very interesting disorder, I think this is one disorder where the connection between our ego consciousness and perhaps what we are at a much deeper level is challenged. Normally we are locked into full belief in our reality - we believe we are very much a part of it and that we "are" the body in which we reside. This disorder forces us to question if we are the body we think we are. It would appear that whatever piece of our mind is keeping us in full belief is breaking down a bit, leaving us a bit outside of the "normal" feeling of being the body. Folks with this disorder can actually worry that they do not have control of their body and that this body may do something they do not want it to do. Driving a car for example can be quite traumatic if you think your body may be acting without your input.
Bipolar disorder - the book I am recommending is focused on Bipolar II disorder - essentially swinging from manic (very happy and carefree) to severe depression. This book was actually required reading during the Masters program
* Book = "An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness" by Kay Redfield Jamison
o Excellent book written by a psychologist who suffers from this disorder. This book helps to understand the importance of medication for this disorder, as well as the path of destruction that can easily be paved during carefree, manic episodes.
ADHD (attention deficit disorder)
* Book = "Scattered: How Attention Deficit Disorder Originates And What You Can Do About It" - Gabor Mate
o This is not just a great book for folks with ADHD, but for everyone - as many of the lessons here translate to all of us. This is an extremely excellent book on ADHD and living in general.
OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)
* Book = "Tormenting Thoughts and Secret Rituals: The Hidden Epidemic of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder" - Ian Osborn
o Excellent book on OCD - this book will help individuals with OCD as well as those who know someone with the disorder - to understand what is happening in the mind of a person with this disorder. This book will also help OCD folks realize that they are not alone and that many of the rituals or compulsions are shared by other folks with OCD.
That is all for now, but I am still reading
The book is structured in three different parts. The first one (Experiences in a Concentration Camp) and the Postscript (The case for a Tragic Optimism) fit beautifully together, and are the basis of Frankl's philosophy and psychotherapy system called Logotherapy. They are narrated in a very conversational way because they are, after all, a memoir. They differ greatly in style and tone from the second part (Logotherapy in a Nutshell), which is a summary of Frankl's therapy system, partially based on Frankl's experiences and observations as Auschwitz inmate, and partially on techniques and views of the world that he had started elaborating before he was sent to the camp. This part is drier in style, way more technical and not as approachable for the reader, unless the reader is really into therapy or a therapist. Harold Kushner's preface to this 2008 edition is a good summary of the book main points, while Frankl's preface to the 1992 edition summarizes well how the book and Logotherapy came to be.
The book has many pearls of wisdom, and is very uplifting despite the brutality of what we read. In all honesty, I already expected that when I picked up the book. Some prisoner's stories are utterly poetic despite their tragedy. I'm glad that those people's historical memoirs had been so beautifully preserved. On the other hand, this is a survivor's first-person narration of the events, so that allows for invaluable insights into the reality of the extermination camps and into the inmates' mental/emotional state and fortune.
Since we live in 2021 and we're pretty aware of the Nazis' atrocities, most of the things that Frankl tells about his experience are somewhat lessened by the impact on the reader of dozens of documentaries and movies on WW2. It might have been chilling reading the book in the postwar era, when all the details were still unfolding and the wold came to realize what had really happened. What we didn't know before reading the book is that a new therapeutic model, Logotherapy, was greatly influenced by the Jew's suffering in Auschwitz, and that there is hope even in the biggest moments of despair.
For the rest, Frank's take on life is admirable and full of wisdom, whether you are into Logotherapy or not. I especially liked his comments on love, the youth and unemployment, as they are still, more than half a century later, valid.
LOGOTHERAPY, SOME CORE PRINCIPLES AND POINTS I LIKE
> The great task for any person is to find meaning in his/her life. Frankl saw three possible sources for meaning: Work (doing something significant), Love (caring for another person), and Courage in difficult times.
> Suffering is meaningless; we give our suffering meaning by the way in which we respond to it.
> You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.
> Logotherapy aims to curing the soul by leading it to find meaning in life.
> What matters is to make the best of any given situation.
> Man’s main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain but rather to see a meaning in his life.
> The aim of life is not to be happy as the seeking of happiness can increase someone's unhappiness.
> Suffering is unavoidable, is part of life, and we need to accept it and re-frame it.
> Tragic optimism, i.e., one remains optimistic in spite of the “tragic triad, or those aspects of human existence which may be circumscribed by: (1) pain; (2) guilt; and (3) death and that we should say 'yes' to life in spite of all that.
> To suffer unnecessarily is masochistic rather than heroic.
> Success cannot be pursued but it is an end result that the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.
There are hundreds of pearls of wisdom that I cannot reproduce here because it would take too long, but those are the ones that made me read the book in the first place.
SOME CRITIQUE
Frankl poignantly mentions that despite all the inmates being subject to the harsh situations (food and sleep deprivation, hard-work labor, extreme cold, beatings, etc.) some died and some survived, and he ways that, many of those who died did so because they gave up on life and lose hope in getting alive out of the camps and resuming their lives after the war.
I love most of what Frankl says and his attitude towards life. However, we cannot say that Frankl survived just because he had a specific mindset, hopes of getting alive, finding his family and publishing the basics of Logotherapy included in this edition, which he had already started writing before being taken to the camp. First of all, he was an intellectual and a psychiatrist, i.e. a person with a strong mind, mentally s stable with enough intellectual harnesses to re-frame anything in his head to give it meaning. He certainly was an optimistic, like it's in his nature. Not everyone was so well equipped mentally and emotionally. What's more, there must have been other people who, like him, had hopes of surviving, seeing their families and doing something with their lives in the outside world, but they never made it because, I can only hypothesize, their physique and immune system, as well as their mental state weren't Frankl's.
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O momento do livro que ele está dormindo no meio de outros em um degrau me marcou bastantes. Todos os dias tenho o luxo de dormir na minha cama. Às vezes tenho dificuldades para dormir e agora sempre vem a minha cabeça que sou extremamente privilegiado e que as coisas poderiam estar muito piores.
Esse é um exemplo simples de aplicação prática do livro, mas para mim foi muito marcante em vários aspectos.
But when I saw this edition on Amazon then I felt this is the I am looking for. Thus hardcover edition available in peacock green, which is very beautiful. If you are a true fan of the book, you would love to have this edition.
For those who want to buy this book for its content, let me tell you a few words about it.
This book is by the well-known psychologist Viktor Frankl, who was in a Nazi concentration camp. There, he realized that people who live longer are those who have hope in their lives. They have a sense of meaning that helps them survive any condition.
This approach led Frankl to propose a therapy known as logotherapy, which focuses on the meaning of life. Logotherapy helps people find meaning in their lives and makes their existence worthwhile.
You will find many valuable insights in this book, but the most important takeaway is the realization of the attitude one must possess in times of turbulence.
Enjoy your reading.