Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning focuses on Dr. Frankl's crucial findings that illustrate our sometimes unconscious desire to get hold of an ultimate meaning of life - whether it comes from a religious source or other venue of inspiration or influence. This is a very relevant topic, especially in light of that pervasive feeling of meaninglessness undercutting the ideas and ambitions of contemporary society. Whether it is the adolescent suffering from insecurity and doubt or the elderly person fearing isolation and neglect, a desperate sense of hopelessness and vulnerability plagues our culture. Dr. Frankl brilliantly demonstrates that it is possible for mankind to find, and actualize, profound meaning in his or her daily life. In this context, Frankl speaks of a "will to meaning" as a central motivating force, and presents specific evidence that life can offer meaning in each and every situation. For even those who have to shoulder the burden of personal guilt, or to face the force of inescapable suffering, still have, in principle, a unique opportunity to turn a predicament into an achievement - in other words, to turn personal tragedy into human triumph. Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning confesses that this search for meaning can also lead to nefarious ends such as unhealthy nationalism, obsessive jealousies, ethnic hatred, or a compulsive work ethic. Dr. Frankl believes that tolerance and a realization of our infinite possibilities throughout our finite existence will ensure a path to a fulfilling existence.
Viktor E. Frankl is Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Vienna Medical School and Distinguished Professor of Logotherapy at the U.S. International University. He is the founder of what has come to be called the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy (after Freud's psychoanalysis and Adler's individual psychology) -- the school of logotherapy.
Born in 1905, Dr. Frankl received the degrees of Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Vienna. During World War II he spent three years at Auschwitz, Dachau and other concentration camps.
Dr. Frankl first published in 1924 in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis and has since published twenty-six books, which have been translated into nineteen languages, including Japanese and Chinese. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard, Duquesne and Southern Methodist Universities. Honorary Degrees have been conferred upon him by Loyola University in Chicago, Edgecliff College, Rockford College and Mount Mary College, as well as by universities in Brazil and Venezuela. He has been a guest lecturer at universities throughout the world and has made fifty-one lecture tours throughout the United States alone. He is President of the Austrian Medical Society of Psychotherapy.
