Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

He focuses on how the daily struggles of camp life affected the mental state of his fellow inmates. Experiences in a Concentration Campįrankl begins by telling the reader that his book is a compilation of his experiences and observations. Part I “Experiences in a Concentration Camp” constitutes Frankl’s autobiographical account of his experiences in the concentration camps, while Part II “Logotherapy in a Nutshell” introduces his theory of logotherapy. While a man’s destiny in life is certainly affected by the circumstances in which he finds himself, he is ultimately free to choose his attitude towards life. Instead of giving up and accepting that he was doomed as most did, he decided to use his suffering as an opportunity to help others and himself. He sees the success of his book as a symptom of the “mass neurosis of modern times” since the title promised to deal with the question of life’s meaningfulness.įrankl’s writings have been called “the most important contributions in the field of psychotherapy since the days of Freud, Adler and Jung.” He is the founder of logotherapy, which he describes as a “school of psychotherapy in spiritual terms”, in which a search for meaning in life is the primary motivational force in man.įrankl chronicled his experiences as a prisoner in concentration camps during World War II. Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, originally titled “A Psychologist Experiences the Concentration Camp” was released in German in 1946, becoming one of the most influential books in the United States, having sold over 10 million copies at the time of Frankl’s death in 1997, and continues to this day to inspire many to find significance in the very act of living.

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl