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It was Victor Frankl's Moral Strength and View of Life that Allowed him to Survive the Concentration Camp Today Viktor Frankl's is a world-known psychologist, who founded his own school of psychotherapy, and also the author of twenty-five books. The most influential and distinguished book of Frankl's is Man's Search for Meaning: Experiences in the Concentration Camp written in 1946. The writer dedicated it to the sombre pages of World War II and it appeals to every one who reads it with its striking illustrations of human moral strength in the time of horror and disaster the war brings with it. Viktor Frankl himself survived the war and the Nazi Concentration Camp and it was his view of life that did not allow him to surrender to despair. In my essay I show the philosophy of survival developed by Frankl in the hardest moments of his life. My essay will touch the issues of meaning of life, success, choosing ones attitude, committing to values and goals, fulfilling ones task.
I will discuss the following views of life expressed by Viktor Frankl in his Man's Search for Meaning: Experiences in the Concentration Camp: It does not matter what we expect from life, it is more important what life expects from us; There is meaning of life at a given moment, there is no general meaning of life; There are three ways to discover ones meaning in life; It is more important to listen to ones conscience commands than to pursue success and happiness; Becoming conscious of responsibility fills ones life with reason Love is salvation and moral behaviour should be given a preference in ones attitude towards existence. During the period in Nazi Camp, Viktor Frankl observed many prisoners who died when underwent less suffering and hardships than those who survived. The surviving people tend to be among those who could envision their future notwithstanding their present troubles. In common, people who attempted to overcome the disaster of the Nazi camp had a strong desire for it since they believed in meaningfulness of their lives. "We had to learn ourselves, and furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us, " Thus, it is important for us to be ready to resist any hardships we may come across in our lives. Also the moral strength here lies in our ability to estimate ourselves and adequately respond to any challenge. Here, self-estimation implies self-criticism and self-sacrifice.
These truly vice features people are expected to posses by life itself in order to survive difficulties. "We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, but instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life, daily and hourly. " More than that, people should learn to evaluate life just as it is. The truth is that we all live different lives, with their own joys and problems, hardships and pleasures, sorrow and happy moments. There is no point in arguing that one life is easy and happy whereas the other is hard and meaningless. Life of every individual consists of various moments and each moment should not come in vain, but be significant and purposeful. "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. " As it has already been said, the ways people live their lives are very different. This means that the every of us fulfils different task and sets different purpose. Finally we all perceive wise laws of the Universe and discover already known universal truths.
Viktor Frankl says that this comprehension may go through either personal deeds (committed mistakes, as I understand it), or through realizing a value (probably, a kind of an intellectual experience), or through sufferings. "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. " However, while choosing ones gaol it is necessary to set the right priority and to distinguish things of major and minor importance. Viktor Frankl noted that many of us are apt to confuse primary and secondary aims and this may result in choosing a wrong direction in ones life and naturally, it may cause such feelings as disappointment, disillusion, dissatisfaction, depression. The author of Man's Search for Meaning: Experiences in the Concentration Camp: mentioned, that the majority of mankind is likely to define the main purpose of life as happiness, success, wealth and so on. Frankl says that such things are minor and can not be perused as goals of life.
According to Viktor Frankl, professional career, success, material well-being may appear by themselves if a person conducts in a right and morally-good way. The author asks his readers to listen to their conscience commands. Because only consciousness or human soul can choose the right purpose and point out the right direction in ones life. Don't aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it.
I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run - in the long run, I say! - success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it. " Equally important, according to Viktor Frankl's points of view, is becoming conscious of responsibility. Responsibility and fulfilling the duties prevent meaninglessness of ones life and despair. But taking responsibility is a very decisive and hard step.
It may restrict a persons life-style and deprive him from pleasures, and many favourite things. But on the other way, responsibility stimulates persons will and encourages growth of moral strength. "Our answer must consist not in talk and medication, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfil the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual. " Also, as it may be seen in the citation, Viktor Frankl distinguishes two kinds of responsibility: a personal responsibility (a narrow meaning) that occurs in everyday relationships between people, and general responsibility of all the mankind (a wider meaning) that may concern global issues, such as preserving the environment, etc. Nevertheless, people are likely to avoid taking responsibility. We all know that life is easier when it is careless, but then it may become empty and vain. The thing that makes us sacrifice our ego and ambitions is responsibility.
More than that, taking responsibility and fulfilling it is hard but it rewards in happiness of friends and relatives, in good deeds and moral reasons. In short, responsibility reasons our living, and as Viktor Frankl put it "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. " One more thing that is essential in Viktor Frankl's philosophy is morality. However this issue is not new and it has been constantly repeated in religious commandments, in social rules and governmental laws. But it should be noted that the author of Man's Search for Meaning: Experiences in the Concentration Camp introduced a new meaning of morality. According to Frankl, moral behaviour strengthens ones attitude to his existence. "There is also purpose in life which is almost barren of both creation and enjoyment and which admits of but one possibility of high moral behavior: namely, in man's attitude to his existence, an existence restricted by external forces. " Moreover, Viktor Frankl's emphasizes the necessity of love in human life.
Love as a kind of virtue, love as a romantic feeling, love as a good attitude to people of ones community plays a great role in Frankl's philosophy. The write perceives love also as a way of catharsis and salvation. Nothing can substitute for love in human life and in human soul. For Viktor Frankl love to his wife was the thing that saved him from moral devastation and disappointment.
After the war he wrote in his book the following: "The salvation of man is through love and in love. " In conclusion I would like to say that Viktor Frankl's ideas are very important for the contemporary society. In the twenty first century Frankl's philosophy of survival effectively stated in Man's Search for Meaning: Experiences in the Concentration Camp saves the victims of depression and disappointment who are unable to bare emptiness and meaninglessness of their everyday life. More than that Frankls experience was taken as the basis of a modern method of treatment in psychotherapy. This method was called logo therapy and its chief goal is in finding meaning of ones life. Thus, Frankl cures his patients by improving their mental heath and helps them to discover them meaningfulness of their lives.
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Research essay sample on Search For Meaning Meaning Of Life
