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Man's Search for Meaning

By Viktor E. Frankl

(90)

| Paperback | 9780807014271

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Book Description

Frankl's timeless memoir and meditation on finding meaning in the midst of suffering With a new Foreword by Harold S. Kushner and a new Biographical Afterword by William J. Winslade Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death cContinue

Frankl's timeless memoir and meditation on finding meaning in the midst of suffering With a new Foreword by Harold S. Kushner and a new Biographical Afterword by William J. Winslade Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory-known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")-holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful. At the time of Frankl's death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. A 1991 reader survey for the Library of Congress that asked readers to name a "book that made a difference in your life" found Man's Search for Meaning among the ten most influential books in America. Beacon Press, the original English-language publisher of Man's Search for Meaning, is issuing this new paperback edition with a new Foreword, biographical Afterword, jacket, price, and classroom materials to reach new generations of readers. Born in Vienna in 1905 Viktor E. Frankl earned an M.D. and a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna. He published more than thirty books on theoretical and clinical psychology and served as a visiting professor and lecturer at Harvard, Stanford, and elsewhere. In 1977 a fellow survivor, Joseph Fabry, founded the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy. Frankl died in 1997.

15 Reviews

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  • 5 people find this helpful

    I guess everyone, at some point of their life, questions why such and such happens to me, what's the meaning of my life etc.....
    This book doesn't tell you the meaning of your life. Above all, this is one's own responsibilities to find it out. But the perspectives the author take on life and ... (continue)

    I guess everyone, at some point of their life, questions why such and such happens to me, what's the meaning of my life etc.....
    This book doesn't tell you the meaning of your life. Above all, this is one's own responsibilities to find it out. But the perspectives the author take on life and suffering are quite insightful. It makes you take a second thought on what you want to do with your life.

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    Carrie said on Dec 27, 2006 | Add your feedback

  • 3 people find this helpful

    once in a while, i come across a book so awesomely incredible i wonder why it took me so long to read it. this is a ten star book on a scale of five stars.

    when you are in the abyss of despair, with the improbability of continued earthly existence, stripped of all possible material possessions, wh ... (continue)

    once in a while, i come across a book so awesomely incredible i wonder why it took me so long to read it. this is a ten star book on a scale of five stars.

    when you are in the abyss of despair, with the improbability of continued earthly existence, stripped of all possible material possessions, what happens? is one's life then meaningless, or one is able to somehow create meaning, or retrieve meaning from the depths of our souls?

    rather than asking what the meaning of life is, perhaps we are better off inquiring what meaning in life we seek.

    this book simply needs to be read.

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    Michaelkchan said on Mar 16, 2010 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • 2 people find this helpful

    A psychologist's experience in the Holocaust; brings us to light how to overcome tragedies in our past.

    I truly admire Dr. Frankl, he had gone through some horrible experiences. He managed to fight through it and survive the horrific concentration camps. He became a counselor for many people (and an outstanding one at that), if you are interested in learning more about a man's state of mind during and ... (continue)

    I truly admire Dr. Frankl, he had gone through some horrible experiences. He managed to fight through it and survive the horrific concentration camps. He became a counselor for many people (and an outstanding one at that), if you are interested in learning more about a man's state of mind during and after the Holocaust, this is the right book for you.

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    Pablo Josué Mendía said on Sep 23, 2010 | Add your feedback

  • A must read for ALL. Frankl's experience surviving the concentration camps of Nazi Germany teaches a lesson on finding meaning of one's life even under the worst of circumstances. Have you found the meaning of your life? Perhaps we are all just hopelessly lost. But maybe this book can inspire yo ... (continue)

    A must read for ALL. Frankl's experience surviving the concentration camps of Nazi Germany teaches a lesson on finding meaning of one's life even under the worst of circumstances. Have you found the meaning of your life? Perhaps we are all just hopelessly lost. But maybe this book can inspire you just a little. Highly recommend.

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    Savio Tang said on Feb 7, 2011 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    A must to read

    Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way

    The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample op ... (continue)

    Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way

    The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity — even under the most difficult circumstances — to add a deeper meaning to his life. It may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal. Here lies the chance for a man either to make use of or to forgo the opportunities of attaining the moral values that a difficult situation may afford him. And this decides whether he is worthy of his sufferings or not.

    Logotherapy...considers man as a being whose main concern consists in fulfilling a meaning and in actualizing values, rather than in the mere gratification and satisfaction of drives and instincts."

    "What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him." p.166

    "The meaning of our existence is not invented by ourselves, but rather detected." p.157

    "What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general, but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment." p.171

    "We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by doing a deed; (2) by experiencing a value; and (3) by suffering." p.176

    "A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the "why" for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any "how."
    p.127

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    Barbara ABP said on Dec 1, 2010 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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9780807014271 Paperback $13.00 $9.36 bn.com
-- $11.95 ebooks.com
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