Man's Search for Meaning (1946)

Logotherapy’s concept of man is based on three pillars, the freedom of will, the will to meaning, and the meaning of life. The first of them, the freedom of will, is opposed to a principle that characterises most current approaches to man, namely, determinism. Really, however, it is only opposed to what I am used to calling pan-determinism, because speaking of the freedom of will does not in any way imply any a priori indeterminism. After all, the freedom of will means the freedom of human will, and human will is the will of a finite being. Man’s freedom is no freedom from conditions but rather freedom to take a stand on whatever conditions might confront him.

6 notes · after 5 · from 6 · both 5

  1. Freud’s self-interpretation of psychoanalysisboth

    Like Columbus seeking India and finding a new continent, Freud achieved something other than the mechanistic theory he believed in.

  2. human autonomy and influenceboth

    For Viktor Frankl, no longer told by instinct or tradition what to do, man often wants what others do or does what others want.

  3. human capacity for self-detachmentboth

    Viktor Frankl finds the uniquely human capacity for self-detachment in two places: heroism, as in the concentration camps, and humor.

  4. Man's Search for Meaning (1946)both

    Human freedom is no freedom from conditions but freedom to take a stand on whatever conditions confront us, Viktor Frankl argues.

  5. The Will to Meaning: Foundations and Applications of Logotherapyfrom
  6. transcendence, love and conscienceboth

    For Viktor Frankl, love and conscience are the most striking forms of self-transcendence, toward another person or toward meaning.