Viktor Emil Frankl
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Deepening Insight into the Ultimate Search for Man's Meaning 5 out of 5 stars.
25 of 25 people found this review helpful.
This was a wonderful book. I highly recommend it immediately after you read Man's Search for Meaning. This is a continuation and extension of the Introduction to Logotherapy that comprises the second half of Man's Search for Meaning. This book is more academic and less personal, but still full of insight and humanity. Frankl touches on many different aspects of life and existential vacuums that we all face. Here are some of his remarks that I thought perticularly noteworthy and that will give you a feel for the overall nature of this work.
Frankl's Definition of God
"God is the partner of your most intimate soliloquies. Whenever you are talking to yourself in utmost sincerity and ultimate solitude-he to whom you are addressing yourself may justifiably be called God." {NB: This is in the context of a non-theistic statement, Frankl notes that a religious person would assert that these are real dialogues between himself and God, while an atheist would be equally correct in insisting that they are only monologues within his own mind. Frankl, himself, I think tends toward the latter position.}
Frankl, Viktor. "Determinism and Humanism: Critique of Pan-Determinism" The Unheard Cry for Meaning. pg. 63.
Self-Trancendence
"Man is - by virtue of the self-trancendent quality of the human reality - basically concerned with reaching out beyond himself, be it toward a meaning to fulfill, or toward another human being to lovingly encounter."
Frankl, Viktor. "Determinism and Humanism: Critique of Pan-Determinism" The Unheard Cry for Meaning. pg. 80.
On the Meaning of Sex
"Human sex is always more than mere sex, and it is more than sex to the extent that it serves as the physical expression of something metasexual, is the physical expression of love. Only to the extent that sex carries out this function is it a rewarding experience." {To the extent that sex fails in this task, ie. using another person as a tool, failing to connect to that person as a subject, not simply an object, it is referred to as 'masturbatory' and 'neurotic' by Frankl.}
Frankl, Viktor. "Determinism and Humanism: Critique of Pan-Determinism" The Unheard Cry for Meaning. pg. 80.
The Pursuit of Happiness
"The more one's search for meaning is frustrated, the more intensively he devotes himself to what ... has been termed the 'pursuit of happiness.' When this pursuit originates in a frustrated search for meaning it is aimed at intoxication and stupifaction. In the final analysis it is self-defeating, for happiness can arise only as a result of living out one's self-transcendence, one's dedication to a cause to be served or a person to be loved."
Frankl, Viktor. "The Dehumanization of Sex" The Unheard Cry for Meaning. pg. 83.
Hyper-reflection and Existential Emptiness
"Paying too much attention to something is what I am used to calling 'hyper-reflection.' The patient is invited to carefully observe and watch himself; what is even more important, he is encouraged to endlessly discuss whatever he furnishes from within himself. Hyper-discussion becomes more and more a substitute for the meaning of life which is today so often missing, and missed by those who are caught in an 'existential vacuum,' a feeling of emptiness and meaninglessness." {There is also a discussion on the principle of hyper-interpretation, which subjects one to a relentless examination on one's 'real motivations.'}
Frankl, Viktor. "Critique of Pure Encounter" The Unheard Cry for Meaning. pg. 76.
