viktor emil frankl (1905-1997) Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, and philosopherknown as the founder of logotherapya form of existential analysis that focuses on The search for meaning as a fundamental driving force in human life.
Experience as a prisoner in several Nazi concentration camps auschwitzdeeply marked his thoughts and expressed them in his most influential work, Man’s Search for Meaning.
Unlike Freud’s psychoanalysis, which focused on pleasure, and Adler’s individual psychology, which focused on power, Frankl argued that: The main motivation of humans is to find a meaningful purpose in life.
For Frankl, the “will to meaning” is a search beyond happy moments. Because it becomes more serious when life becomes unbearable. “Meaning is something we have to discover and choose throughout our lives. how to respond to the situations we faceAs recalled in a video published on the @donfilosofo TikTok account.
Frankl developed his philosophy as follows: Death, starvation and humiliation in concentration camps. So he observed the situation People who were able to understand their suffering survived more honestly. than those who see it as something ridiculous.
According to this perspective, the meaning of life does not necessarily lie in great achievements; simple actCaring for others, courageously accepting suffering, I work with passion. Therefore, his idea is a call: transcendence of selfto see beyond the ego and the immediate pain.
From his experience, he distilled three important ways to find meaning in life. work and creation. It doesn’t matter whether it’s painting, writing, teaching, or building. The important thing is to commit to something beyond yourself.
The second method is love and relationships. In this sense, love is not just a feeling, but a profound act of recognition. “Love allows us to see the potential of others and ourselves,” Frankl argued.
The third important method is suffering As a way of growing. He never romanticized pain, but defended the freedom to always choose how to deal with it when it is unavoidable. “Suffering is chance “To achieve higher levels of personal growth,” he said.
For Frankl, meaning is neither universal nor fixed. It changes over time, but situationbut it’s always there, waiting to be found. His message resonates strongly in a world saturated with noise, rush, and external demands. “Even if life is full of challenges, there is always something greater to live for.”.