A person experiencing loss of
meaning in life is living in a world
in which previous traditions and
values no longer provide guidance
on what to do and a world in
which the person may not even
know what he or she wishes to do.
A person in this situation may
then simply do what others do
(conformism) or do what others
direct (totalitarianism).
Loss of meaning can affect attitudes. It may be
characterized by:
(1) a provisional attitude toward life–living as if
there is no tomorrow;
(2) a fatalistic attitude toward life–acting as if
one has no control over one’s destiny;
(3) collectivist thinking–a denial of one’s own
personhood; and
(4) fanaticism–a denial of the personhood of
those who think differently.
The SolutionA philosophy of life that demonstrates life has
meaning for each and every human person no
matter how dire the circumstances.
“There were always choices to make. Every day,
every hour, offered the opportunity to make a
decision, a decision which determined whether
you would or would not submit to those powers
which threatened to rob you of your very self, your
inner freedom; which determined whether or not
you would become the plaything of circumstance,
renouncing freedom and dignity to become
molded into the form of the typical inmate.”
--Viktor Frankl
Freedom of Will
Image of the Person Motivation Theory
Frankl: Nous vis-a-vis Freud: Libido
Adler: Self Esteem
Behav.: Learning history
Frankl‘s Two-Fold Revolution
“We who lived in concentration camps can
remember the men who walked through the huts
comforting others, giving away their last piece of
bread. They may have been few in number, but
they offer sufficient proof that 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.”
--Viktor Frankl
The Will to Meaning
the basic striving of the human person
to find and fulfill a concrete meaning
and purpose in personal existence.
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„For the first time in their approx. 150 years, the behavioural sciences not only tell us how we function (mechanics of the mind), but also who we are (architecture and substance of the mind).“
--- Alexander Batthyány
26
Think back to the time before matter had collapsed into the first stars. Since the
universe at this time consisted of simple particles randomly scattered through vast
reaches of spaces, it seems unlikely that there was experience anywhere to be found.
If the universe in this condition was wholly experience-free, how can simply
rearranging the same elementary particles have given birth to something
fundamentally new and different: consciousness?
How can the bringing to gether of non-experiential things ever produce an
experience? Even the simplest experience seems to be something wholly other than
a collection of physical atoms.
The materialist‘s problem
First Law of Dimensional Ontology
“One and the same phenomenon projected
out of its own dimension into different
dimensions lower than its own is depicted
in such a way that the individual pictures
contradict one another.”
Second Law of Dimensional
Ontology
“Different phenomena projected out of
their own dimension into one dimension
lower than their own are depicted in such a
manner that the pictures are ambiguous.”
Clinical Indications (according to Frankl):
(1) Logotherapy is a specific treatment when the source of
the psychological disturbance is a lack of meaning-
orientation.
(2) Logotherapy is a non-specific treatment when the source
of the disturbance is rooted in physiology or psychology.
(3) Medical Ministry
(4) On the level of society, Logotherapy is seen as a tool to
counter the influence of nihilism.
(5) Within the medical and therapeutic community,
Logotherapy is seen as a tool to counter reductionism.
Paradoxical Intentiontechnique of logotherapy in which one is
encouraged to do or to wish that which is feared.
Paradoxical intention is based on the uniquely
human capacity of self-distancing
Dereflectiontechnique of logotherapy in which one is enabled to
ignore the self, ignore symptoms, and to become
directed toward the concrete meaning of personal
existence.
Socratic Dialoguein logotherapy, method to bring the healthy, noetic
core of the human person to conscious awareness
such that spiritual resources can be used
therapeutically.
Ancillary Techniques of
Logotherapy:
(1)Values Clarification
(2)Writing Assignments
(3)Structured Experiences
Most Well Documented Findings
(based on over 20 studies)
1. A positive correlation exists between
meaning and measures of well-being and
coping.
2. An inverse correlation exists between
meaning and a diagnosis of mental illness.
3. When mental illness does occur, an inverse
correlation exists between meaning and
symptom severity.
Other Well Documented Findings
(based on 10-20 studies)
1. An inverse correlation exists between
reasons for living/purpose in life and
suicidality.
2. An inverse correlation exists between
meaning and a diagnosis of substance use
disorder.
3. A positive correlation exists between
meaning and health.
Emerging Findings(based on less than 10
studies)
1. Meaning in life is positively correlated
with occupational functioning.
2. An inverse correlation exists between
meaning and criminal or antisocial
behavior.
3. Meaning in life is positively correlated
with social functioning.
Randomized Controlled Studies demonstrate the
efficacy of logotherapy in reducing desire for
hastened death in persons diagnosed with stage III
and IV cancer.
Marshall H. Lewis, Ph.D.
Diplomate in Logotherapy
kansasinitiative.org
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