Viktor Emil Frankl's "The Will to Meaning: Uncovering the Foundations and Applications of Logotherapy"

Rodney Bowen: My takeaways from this book:

Life is something that always has meaning. Life has permanence. For in our past, nothing is irrecoverably lost but everything is irrevocably stored with life delivered and deposited along the way, in which we have saved.

Your life has meaning. Your life has value.
Your life makes an impact.

Your life is a monument that no one can remove from the world for in those moments of life, you’ve delivered and deposited along the way.

——
Holocaust survivor Viktor E. Frankl is known as the founder of logotherapy, a mode of psychotherapy based on man's motivation to search for meaning in his life. The author discusses his ideas in the context of other prominent psychotherapies and describes the techniques he uses with his patients to combat the "existential vacuum."

United States on Jan 31, 2024

Thomas: Read it

United States on Aug 13, 2023

Reylla: As a mental health counselor, this is a foundational reading that illuminated many interventions. Recommended for those who need to learn more about existential therapy

United States on Aug 10, 2023

Daniel Raju: If you're interested in understanding Frankl's ideation of Logotherapy, this is a great book to start your journey with.

India on Jul 09, 2023

vinoth babu r: Good

India on Apr 19, 2021

Kim K.: Love Victor Frankl and his view that meaning and purpose in life are important to all people, and without that, people flounder and function poorly. I agree finding meaning is a critical need for most people and that it is NOT a task that is addressed in our education system. We are NOT told that finding meaning for ourselves in our work and lives is critical to enjoying life. Success is understood to mean financial success through one's work or career. Meaning, unfortunately, is not implied or considered relevant to being successful in our culture. This book is a great reminder that clients may need help understanding it's importance and discovering what provides meaning for them. It may be the first time in their lives anyone has encouraged them to see the importance of finding a meaningful purpose in their lives.

Canada on Jun 23, 2020

Anthony Peckham: One thing I take from Dr. Frankl's book Will to Meaning is that ultimately death, the decay and dying, is simple, requires no plan. Living is the thing. Playing God very complicated. I was bowled over by his assertion that life has permanence written in time and meaning because of the impacts, and relational effects we leave in the world when we die. The tragedy is for people to die believing that the life they lived had no impact, no meaning, no value. To vanish from the scene to be forgotten. Impossible. For good and for ill to the individual their life lived means something that can be charted and booked and cannot be undone. So.. what? Are we frustrated by our circumstances? Is not this the time and the place that we did not choose? Now is our opportunity to waste in flailing, blaming, blinded struggle, or tragic or heroic clear-eyed to transcend this our moment to take a stand? What does it mean? The meaning we choose.

I strongly recommend this work as a tonic for the ills of scientific reductionism, philosophical cynicism, existential anxieties, and nihilism.

United States on Mar 10, 2019

C C.: This is a great book and really makes you wonder how someone who had the life experiences he faced could be so positive. It is a little difficult to read in places as it was taken from a series of his lecture notes, but once you get used to his turn of phrase, it's easy. It is also interesting that he wrote this in the early 1970's and his observations of life then are only amplified now!

United Kingdom on Feb 04, 2019

David Davenport: *Note: the following is an excerpt of an article I authored which speaks to the symbiosis between Logotherapy and the work of Pastoral Care/Counseling in which I facilitate as a minister. In short, please deem the following excerpt that of a strong recommendation to add The Will to Meaning to your reading line-up.

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The late Victor Frankyl, a Jew, survived imprisonment at no less than four Nazi Death Camps during World War II. During this period Frankyl was subjected to unspeakable suffering, as were all Jews, Jewish Sympathizers and Nazi-Opposition who shared the same fate. During Frankyl's nightmare in the death camps, he witnessed many truly noble acts committed by men and woman who were often only hours from death, weakened by sickness, starvation, and internal resignation to life--the will to die. Within Frankyl's observance of the many noble acts, he discovered a truly revelatory dynamic which he later coined the "Will to Meaning." In essence, and in short, what Frankyl observed was that while in the face of unspeakable suffering and agony, a given person would find purpose in for example...

United States on Mar 03, 2013

Murphy: I have wasted countless money on 'self help' books in my quest to find a purpose in life. This book, along with Dr Frankl's 'Man's Search for Meaning', offers everything that all the self-help gurus did not. It's not a light read (there are quite a few 'technical' terms) but Frankl gives plenty of real world examples to help illustrate his points. If you, like so many people today, have felt lost or despaired at the seeming emptiness of life then please take the time to read this book (or 'Man's Search for Meaning'). A true work of genius. Highly recommended.

United Kingdom on Nov 15, 2007