The central theme of the book is that:
“Life
is not a quest for pleasure, but for meaning.”
Furthermore, “How come a person who
has nothing keeps on living while a person who apparently has everything
decides to kill himself.”
The book is divided into two parts:
i)
Part One:
Experiences in a Concentration Camp
ii)
Part Two: Logotherapy
in a Nutshell
In the first part, Viktor E. Frankl,
the author of the book shares his experience of concentration camps that were
special prisons set up during the second world war for Jews.
In the second part, however, the
author, being a psychiatrist explains the technique of logotherapy – the pursuit
of meaning for one’s life.
Summary of Part One
The first part revolves around author’s
experiences of concentration camps as seen, both, through the eyes of a
psychiatrist and a lay man. The main point of interest was:
“How
the camp/prison life affected human mentality and in turn altered human
behavior.”
It wasn't clear if the person
represented the number or the number represented him.
Part one of the book discusses the
psychology of the prisoners throughout this grim experience.
Frankl divides the mental reactions
of the inmates into three phases...
a) right after admission
b) When one is well entrenched in
camp routine
c) after release and liberation
When you get caught in such a
situation your first and obvious response is of shock. However, a person also
experiences a slight hope or rather an illusion of hope. This condition is
termed in psychiatry as "The delusion of reprieve" in which the condemned man right before his execution has an illusion that he might be reprieved at the very last moment. Which mostly never happens.
And before it became evident that this was their new reality and they had no choice but to accept it if they intended to survive. They entered the phase of relative apathy in which they achieved a kind of emotional death.
This is when they entered the second
phase. When one is well entrenched in camp routine.
This phase is marked by complete
apathy. One did everything to save himself
even if it were at the expense of someone else’s life. Death was no longer
saddening nor distressing. And in such cases where survival was the only goal
man returned to its most primitive form. His desires were reduced merely to
surplus food. This was the only thing he dreamt about. “Having enough food.”
Frankl also discusses the
psychology of camp guards or the Capos.
Just like the prisoners who had lost the ability to feel emotions, the Capos
were also mostly heartless. They were chosen from amongst the prisoners and the
prime criterion for the selection of these Capos was brutality.
The third phase after the
release and liberation of the person. Naturally,
the experiences of freedom are mostly personal. However, one thing that most of
the prisoners experienced was that they observed the things that had always
been there but they never realized their presence like flowers.
Even after liberation, the concept of
freedom had not penetrated their consciousness. It seemed as if they had lost
the ability to feel pleased.
Most importantly, as it often happens
in such cases “The oppressed tend to become the oppressors” as a revenge for
their suffering.
BUT
Past turns into a memory. Time passes
and dulls this memory down. Eventually everything becomes a faded memory, just
a bad dream, and one is left wondering how did he survive all that.
Summary of PART TWO
Logotherapy
Logotherapy, or “healing through meaning” in Greek, is the
psychological theory developed by Viktor Frankl. Based on his experiences as a
medical doctor, psychiatrist, neurologist, and philosophy student, he
formulated his meaning-centered approach which promotes freedom of choice and
personal responsibility
ACCORDING TO FRANKL,
AS HUMAN BEINGS, OUR PRIMARY MOTIVATION FOR
LIVING IS TO FIND MEANING.
This chapter is further explained
under various sub-topics. The first being;
The Will to Meaning
To strive for meaning is not a
secondary rationalization but the primary purpose of human existence. As Albert
Camus has presented it as:
“What is called a reason for living is also an
excellent reason for dying.”
And people are willing to die for the
sake of their ideals and values. So, it is obviously not ridiculous that
meaning, in fact, should be the real goal.
NOOGENIC Neuroses
Neurosis is a mild mental illness
showing the symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, etcetera.
Noogenic neurosis means the one which
arises because a person does not find meaning in his/her life. In many cases,
the persistent stress does not lead to mental illness but, in reality, the lack
of meaning induces this stress. And it needs to be treated accordingly rather
than through futile medication.
NOOGENIC Dynamics
In order to create an equilibrium of
mind or as it is biologically called “homeostasis”, one needs to have a sound
reason for his actions. A person finds it unbearable to perform a task which
requires dedication, determination and great amount of effort but returns no
profitable outcome not even satisfaction. On the contrary, if one has a drive
to fulfill something, he is not reluctant in putting his heart and soul into
the task. In the words of Nietzsche
“He who has a why to live for can
bear almost any how.”
The search for meaning does put a
person, temporarily, in a state of unrest and mental distress but the rewards
outweigh this minor inconvenience. So, no person should ever hesitate is this
regard.
The Existential Vacuum
Man has suffered two losses
A] he lost his animal instincts, that
ensured his security, to become a civilized human being
B] In the recent times, he has lost
the traditions that structured his behavior to the postmodern society
A] Conformism (doing what others do)
B] Totalitarianism (doing what others
want him to do)
In short, he does not have free will.
The Meaning of Life
What is the meaning of life?
There simply is no objective or
absolute answer to this question. The meaning of life is different for each
individual and is subjective to his opinion. Even for a single person, it
varies from time to time depending upon the task at hand.
All in all, this question is like
asking a chess grandmaster, what the best move in chess is? There is no right
answer it depends on a number of different things.
The Essence of Existence
Granted that meaning is such an
important thing, how can it be found. Frankl says that a person can discover it
in three different ways
1. By creating a work
or doing a deed meaning that through achievements and accomplishments
2. By experiencing
something or encountering someone that is through love
3. By the attitude we
take towards unavoidable suffering
Logotherapy as a Technique
Keep these key words in mind
1. Anticipatory anxiety
2. Hyper-intention
(trying consciously and excessively for something)
3. Hyper-reflection
(giving excessive attention to something)
4. Paradoxical
intention
It
is easily guessable that paradoxical intention means trying the opposite of
what you want to achieve
A
commonplace example can be that when you are afraid that you might see
something in the dark your mind tricks you into actually seeing things. It
should not be confused with hallucinating which is a different phenomenon. You are anticipating seeing something, it makes you anxious. Then you try not to get scared by it and the more you try, the less effective it is. That's hyper intention. Lastly, the more you think that it might scare you or that you should not be scared by it, the more you think about it. That is hyper reflection.
Another example can be that if a person thinks he might stutter at an important occasion, then he will stutter. Because he is constantly thinking about not stuttering.
The cure for this is that you think, in fact, try the opposite of what you are trying to achieve (paradoxical intention). If you think that you might stutter, try to stutter voluntarily. You would not be able to do that.
Youtube Video
Favorite Passages
I have selected some passages from the book that I think are the highlight of the book and are absolutely
brilliant.
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