Man's Search for Meaning

“Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of.
And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.”

Background

Antisemitism was raging in Europe during the Second World War, and among the Jewish families persecuted was a Viennese doctor of psychiatry and neurology- Dr. Victor E. Frankl. The Nazis took them to Auschwitz concentration camp. After that, he lost his family members in different prison camps. He spent three years in various concentration camps, living the most harrowing experiences of prison life. During that time, he was developing his unique work on psychiatry known as - Logotherapy. In 1946, he published, 'Man's Search for Meaning' in German, which became a great success in the history of holocaust literature.

An outline

On Victor's admission into the camp, he approached another prisoner hoping to save his most priced possession- his seminal papers on Logotherapy- hidden in his coat. But, to his utter shock, the prisoner dismissed his prayer with a naive laugh. He thought that his life had lost its purpose. In great dismay, he changed his clothes and wore the rags of a prisoner who had died some time ago. From its pocket, he got a piece of paper from the famous Jewish prayer 'Shema Israel'. 

Life holds surprises for you. He thought instead of merely putting his theories on paper, why not live them and see how much pain a man could endure? Soon, he realized that those inmates who have had a reason to live never gave up hope. They had a better chance of survival than those who had lost all hope to live and found no meaning in life.

"He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How" (Nietzsche)

The author came out of his initial shock and made himself and others an object of

his study. In a week, the horrors of the camp life became more or less evident to

the inmates. The prison life deprived them of every little comfort a human being

could aspire for. They became emaciated due to an insufficient ration of food.

They worked under extreme conditions. Their skin was covered with grime, and they didn't have a bath for days. Their rags were worn and were not replaced. At the slightest provocation, the SS guards would whip their naked bodies. They didn't have names but numbers. All entertainment, socializing and communication with the outside world were banned. But the worst of all was the sub-human treatment of the inmates by the Nazis. Like a poisonous gas that eventually fills the entire room, their mental state is possessed with extreme negativity and boredom. Soon, many prisoners gave way to what is known as 'barbed wire sickness'. To prevent them from committing suicide, they should be shown a purpose in life, something they would value and hope to be realized in the future.

In 1945, Germany lost the war that marked the culmination of the Second World War. Eventually, the Nasi concentration camps were shut down, and among the luckiest inmates who came out alive was Dr Victor E. Frankl.

My Thoughts

The book is an eye-opener in dealing with the existential vacuum of the modern

man. Despite our scientific, technological, intellectual and mental capabilities, we

suffer an emptiness within us. We seek pleasure and avert suffering with much

effort, yet we don't feel complete within us. Thus, the book rejects the Freudian

notion that the purpose of life is to seek pleasure.

Power can be intoxicating. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts

absolutely. Observe the world around us- our politicians, bureaucrats, oligarchies,

regimes or individuals who seek power for the sake of power. Are they happy and

content in their being in the fullest possible sense? No, therefore, the book rejects

the Adlerian notion of seeking power as the purpose of life.

Why does the modern man feel an emptiness within? It is a strain between our

ideas about what we are and what we are capable of becoming. Often, we don't

know the purpose of life. We either live to fulfil the expectations of the world on

us, or to satisfy our notions about ourselves. Either way, we are not satisfied and

suffer.

The book beautifully captures this modern crisis in the term 'Sunday neurosis'

that afflicts people who see a lack of content in their life when the rush of the

busy week is over and a void within them becomes manifest. This is evident in the fear we entertain in our retired life and old age. The fundamental characteristics

of our existential vacuum are boredom and disillusionment.

In discerning Frankl's ideas of Logotherapy, we have insightful answers to some of

our modern maladies. That is what this book does in reading and re-reading it.

The Meaning of Life

If life has a meaning, then suffering, too, has one. Without suffering, life is not

complete. Whether we lead an active life of creativity or a passive life of

enjoyment, suffering is inevitable. We can avoid the causes of suffering, but there

are external factors that are not in our control. So, the tension created by

unavoidable suffering has to be borne gracefully rather than giving up hope in any

situation of life.

"Suffering ceases to be suffering, at the moment it finds a meaning"

The book cites extreme conditions of physical, mental and emotional torture, yet

the attitude we develop towards suffering decides the outcome of our life.

Logotherapy emphasizes on the purpose of life in exercising one's spiritual

freedom – a choice that we can consciously make to respond to a situation.

"We are never left with nothing as long as we retain

the freedom to choose how we will respond"

The primary purpose of life is a quest for meaning in all situations. If so, is it

possible to say "yes to life" despite the 'tragic triad' namely- pain, guilt and death?

The book examines and bases its conclusion on three aspects of the human

capacity to turn the negativity of life into positivity. 1. To turn suffering into an

accomplishment (a personal triumph) 2. To derive from guilt an opportunity to

change oneself for the better, and 3. To derive from life's transitoriness an

incentive to take responsible action.

"Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its

problems and fulfil the tasks it constantly sets for each individual."