Man's Search for Meaning

After reading this book, I have come to have great respect for its author, Professor Viktor Frankl. Dr Frankl survived not just WWII, but also being imprisoned in four concentration camps. On top of managing to survive the hunger, pain, cold, misery, hopelessness of his situation, he was able to apply his knowledge to analyze his and the experience of others in order to gain insight into the human psyche. As such, not only is he a man of great courage and strength, he is also one of extreme intellect. Of course, with the odds of surviving a concentration camp being in the region of one in twenty five, he is also a very lucky man.

The concentration camp is a result of Nazi genocide of the Jews, and presents an example where humans are divided into two extremes, one, the dominant side which is given the freedom and space to oppress, torture and kill at will, while the other is the sufferer, being hurt, killed, tormented at every turn, with no end in sight.

In spite of this, there were people who went against the majority. Among the bad guys, there were still men who showed kindness and morality even though they faced absolutely no societal pressure to. Among the oppressed, there were those who did not hesitate to betray their kin and even become more brutal than their captors. There were even those who resorted to cannibalism.

What this shows is that there is no absolute good or bad-ness, only people who are in between. Depending on the circumstances, bad people can be good, good people can be bad. To quote, “Man has both potentialities within himself; which one is actualized depends on decisions but not on conditions”

The book is full of revelations, I guess the most pertinent being the topic in the title. I have tried, but ultimately, Dr Frankl puts it across best in his own words:

What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude towards life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – hourly and daily. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.

These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment. Thus it is impossible to define the meaning of life in a general way. Questions about the meaning of life can never be answered by sweeping statements. “Life” does not mean something vague, but something very real and concrete, just as life’s tasks are also very real and concrete. They form man’s destiny, which is different and unique for each individual. No man and no destiny can be compared with any other man or any other destiny. No situation repeats itself, and each situation calls for a different response. Sometimes the situation in which a man finds himself may require him to shape his own fate by action. At other times it is more advantageous for him to make use of an opportunity for contemplation and to realize assets in this way. Sometimes man may be required simply to accept fate, to bear his cross. Every situation is distinguished by its uniqueness, and there is always only one right answer to the problem posed by the situation at hand.

When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer, he will have to accept his suffering as his task; his single and unique task. He will have to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden.