A Joosr Guide to... Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E Frankl

By Joosr

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Have you ever wondered about the meaning of life? Discover how meaning and purpose can give you the strength to survive anything.

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is firstly a book about survival. It documents what Dr. Frankl learned about the meaning of life through the suffering he and others endured in Nazi concentration camps. During that horrific time he was able to find a hope that sustained him. After his experience, he fathered a new type of psychotherapy which challenged Freudian theories of the day and is explained thoroughly in Man's Search for Meaning.

You will learn:

· Why, even in the face of horrendous suffering, we are never powerless

· How holocaust survivors defy Freud's theory of the Pleasure Principle

· Why to find the meaning of life, you must look outside yourself rather than within.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joosr
• Release date: Sep 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781785671562

Book preview

book

What’s it about?

What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? These questions are by no means new. In fact, nearly everyone who has ever lived has asked such questions. The search for meaning begins almost as soon as a child can talk and often extends throughout life, even to one’s deathbed.

There are many theories about the meaning of life; some religious, some secular, others scientific. One of the most famous theories came from Sigmund Freud, who was convinced that the meaning of life was the pursuit of pleasure. Another well-known psychotherapist, Alfred Adler, theorized that life’s meaning was in the quest for power. Is this really all there is to life: the search for power and/or pleasure?

Viktor Frankl—psychiatrist, neurologist, and holocaust survivor—had a very different idea. He believed that the meaning of life had more to do with work, love, and courage than it did with base human desires. Indeed, according to Frankl, living a life focused on such desires would do little to separate humans from animals. On the other hand, living a life with meaning—whether that means finding significant work, caring for others or mustering up courage in the most difficult of circumstances—not only set humans apart from animals, it allows one to live