Man's Search for Meaning

In this section, the author once again emphasizes his belief that dignity and courage in the face of suffering is one of the ultimate sources of meaning in a person’s life. “This in turn presupposes the human capacity to creatively turn life’s negative aspects into something positive or constructive . . . hence the reason I speak of a tragic optimism, that is, an optimism in the face of tragedy and in view of the human potential that at its best always allows for: 1) turning suffering into human achievement and accomplishment; 2) deriving from guilt the opportunity to change oneself for the better; and 3) deriving from life’s transitoriness an incentive to take responsible action” (137-38).

Frankl’s philosophy and methods lead him to a particular interpretation of the past. He argues that “People tend to see only the stubble fields of transitoriness but overlook and forget the full granaries of the past into which they have brought the harvest of their lives: the deeds done, the loves loved, and last but not least, the sufferings they have gone through with courage and dignity. From this one may see that there is no reason to pity old people. Instead, young people should envy them . . . instead of possibilities in the future, they have the realities in the past—the potentialities they have actualized, the meanings they have fulfilled, the values they have realize—and nothing and nobody can ever remove these assets from the past” (150-51).

Frankl also addresses Sigmund Freud’s hypothesis that people would all respond in the same way to the same stimuli, including the kind of extreme conditions found in the concentration camps. Based on his experience and direct observations, Frankl asserts that people can be divided into a least two main types: swine and saints, decent and indecent people. He notes that, “In the filth of Auschwitz . . . individual differences did not ‘blur’ but, on the contrary, people became more different; people unmasked themselves, both the swine and the saints . . . you may of course ask whether we really need to refer to ‘saints.’ Wouldn’t it suffice to refer to decent people? It is true that they form a minority. More than that, they will always remain a minority. Yet I see therein the very challenge to join the minority. For the world is in a bad state, but everything will become still worse unless each of us does his best” (153-54).