Existential Theory Of Logotherapy In Man's Search For Meaning

In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl utilizes his nightmarish experiences as a prisoner in a concentration camp to develop his philosophical and psychological theory, logotherapy. A significantly existential theory, logotherapy deals primarily with the importance meaning in life. Frankl notes meaning’s ability to “differ from man to man, and from moment to moment” (77). In other words, he posits the individuality of meaning and presents it as unique to each person. Additionally, Frankl establishes the significant importance of meaning to a person’s survival.

He notes two instances of men who were planning on committing suicide who, once they were able to find meaning in their lives and their futures, were able to find the will to live. For one of the men, this was his child waiting for him in a foreign country, for the other it was finishing his life’s work (79). Clearly, discovering meaning in their lives aided them in surviving the suffering that they faced. Frankl believes that there exists “potential meaning inherent and dormant in all the single situations one has to face throughout his or her life” (143). Frankl finds meaning even in terrible suffering. While he in no way purports suffering as a necessary means to finding meaning, he acknowledges that the way a man responds to suffering allows him “to add a deeper meaning to his life” (67). Does this man maintain his morality? Does he become compromised by the atrocities surrounding him? Perhaps even a desire to maintain one’s morals and prove his inner strength and humanity can be seen as a meaning to