“Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy is based on the premise that the human person is motivated by a “will to meaning,” an inner pull to find a meaning in life. The following list of tenets represents basic principles of logotherapy:
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•Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserable ones.
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•Our main motivation for living is our will to find meaning in life.
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•We have freedom to find meaning in what we do, and what we experience, or at least in the stand we take when faced with a situation of unchangeable suffering.”
* http://www.logotherapyinstitute.org/About_Logotherapy.html *
Man, I guess that I should start by saying that this book is intense. This book is about a mans time in multiple Nazi death camps during World War II. That man is psychiatrist, Victor E. Frankl. This book is split up into two parts; the first part being a memoir of his time in the concentration camps while the second half breaks down his theory of Logotherapy. I’ve obviously always knew how horrible the concentration camps during World War 2 were, but until I read a personal account from someone who’s survived them, I don’t think I ever really understood just how horrific and demoralizing they were. And even after reading a personal account like Victors, there’s no way of fully being able to comprehend those times without having actually been there. I will say however that just reading the first half of this book gave me a new found appreciation for how good I have it and everything that I take for granted. The second half dipping into the psychology part of things and discusses in detail the theory of Logotherapy; how we find meaning in life through purpose. This wasn’t a usual read for me but absolutely glad I stumbled across it.
Rating: 8/10
Recommended for: Anybody interested in a more personal account from a concentration survivor. Anybody needing to understand that the external can’t break you if you have the internal in check.