3 Key Takeaways From Man’s Search For Meaning

Man’s Search For Meaning is an exploration of how one may find meaning in the most unusual places, even in the horrendous environment that was characteristic of Nazi-Germany concentration camps. Frankl describes his lessons learned as a holocaust survivor, and how his experiences shaped his understanding of meaning. The will to meaning, his iconic Logotherapy, and the true meaning of life are all masterfully explained by Frankl. Here are our three favorite takeaways from Man’s Search For Meaning

The Will To Meaning

Throughout his three year imprisonment, Frankl found there were three ways in which one could find meaning in their life: Through work, through love, or through suffering. He called this concept The Will To Meaning. 

In thinking about the work he wanted to do after he was free, Frankl would get lost in fantasies about publishing his book, developing his theories related to Logotherapy and further contributing to the field of psychology. For example, when Frankl first arrived at Auschwitz, his nearly complete manuscript was taken from him. He would often visualize what this manuscript looked like, and write it over and over again in his head. This was just one way in which he found some meaning despite his circumstances. 

One of the most heartbreaking examples that Frankl mentions is the significance of his wife. Frankl was separated from his wife when they reached the camp. He had no idea where she was, or when he would see her again. The thought of being reunited with his wife preoccupied his mind constantly. In some moments, he swore he physically felt her presence. He would come to find out that his wife had died in Auschwitz, likely less than a few miles from where his own barracks laid. Even so, Frankl persevered. 

Frankl’s thought process gave him meaning and helped him push through the adversity of everyday life at the camps he was imprisoned at, Auschwitz and Dachau. Instead of thinking about the life he left behind, he focused on finding meaning in every little moment. Whether it was the thought of being reunited with his wife or his constant reflection on the ideas of Logotherapy, Frankl passed time by pondering what was meaningful to him. He found meaning in his condition of suffering, which is the human condition itself. 

LogoTherapy

One can argue that Man’s Search For Meaning is almost entirely about Frankl’s Logotherapy, first in showing the application and later in the book, explaining the true science behind it. Logotherapy is a school of psychology that is centered around helping people find meaning in their life. The concept was also referred to as the “Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy” after Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler’s previous contributions. Unlike Freud and Adler, Frankl believed that the search for existential meaning is the major motivating force in a person’s life. 

As such, Frankl argued that we need therapy which focuses on existentialism, primarily because we suffer greatly when our meaning is entirely unknown to us. Frankl referred to this as existential frustration—a kind of anxiety that causes us great mental anguish. This then leads to, according to Frankl, existential despair, which is a depressed state where we question the meaning of life altogether. Frankl supports this theory with his own experiences at the concentration camp, reiterating how often he saw those who lived without meaning struggle to survive. 

Frankl’s aim in developing Logotherapy was to expand upon the psychoanalytical and individualistic ideas that were brought forth by Freud and Adler. Frankl noticed that there was a central force that drives all of us, and neither psychologists before him had truly touched upon it. Since the book was published in 1947, Logotherapy has helped thousands of people overcome various forms of psychological suffering. The school of thought eventually contributed to the founding of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which is still used by psychologists today. 

The Meaning Of Life

Conventional thinking about the meaning of life usually involves a life-long task that is unchanging. If one finds meaning in becoming a musician, it’s assumed that they practice day in, and day out. The same goes for writers, artists, and entrepreneurs alike. But Frankl’s idea of meaning is a bit different. Rather than sticking to one objective meaning, Frankl argues that meaning is not only subjective but ever-changing. In order to live a meaningful life, we have to identify what is meaningful to us in every moment. There is a kind of mindfulness to meaning—a level of focused attention where we must focus on identifying what we find meaningful. 

So how do we find meaning? According to Frankl, it’s simply a shift in perspective. When pondering our meaning, Frankl says, we often ask ourselves the question of meaning. The problem of meaning is far easier solved when we reverse the question as if it’s being asked of us instead. Frank writes in the latter chapters of Man’s Search For Meaning “Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is being asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible. Thus, Logotherapy sees in responsibleness the very essence of human existence.”

Our goals and aspirations tend to change over time, and thats ok. If life is truly suffering, we must embrace those goals that are worth suffering for. And as we struggle to meet them, and wrestle with the inherent difficulty of life, we find the meaning we seek. Frankl enhances this exact idea as he writes, “What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him.”

If the condition of life is to suffer, the meaning of life is to do what is meaningful to us despite this condition. It’s that simple.