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"Frankl concluded that the difference between those who had lived and those who had died came down to one thing: Meaning, an insight he came to early in life."

"Frankl concluded that the difference between those who had lived and those who had died came down to one thing: Meaning, an insight he came to early in life." So the thousands who died on the camps were some kind of nihilists, eh? Why people always want life to be meaningful. Life may very well be absurd. Is the pursuit of meaning a requirement for living a good life? I don't think so.

return0 14y ago
It's like people have a taste for orderly things, (after all, life feeds on the reduction of entropy). An absurd chaotic life is not satisfactory.
DigitalTurk 14y ago
Well, I think the trick is the find meaning in small things and not to worry too much (all of the time) about how what you do fits in the grand scheme of things. Because, indeed, things that are meaningful on a small scale might be absurd when you put them in a bigger context. So I don't see a contradiction here. Of course worrying about what things mean on a larger scale can be virtuous, but you also want to come to terms with your limitations as a human being in a specific context.
ibisum 14y ago
I suggest you read some Frankl and try not to be too reactionary to the position he holds. You may in fact learn something about your own position that "life may very well be absurd". No, the thousands who died were not nihilists; but the ones who did survive in spite of the odds, no matter what, were more able to do so when they had some meaning to their life. And that is a very, very powerful observation. Its especially relevant today, when .. in fact .. life can very well be absurd. The difference between the two conditions is, to put it simply, you.
Lost_BiomedE 14y ago
'Is the pursuit of meaning a requirement for living a good life? I don't think so.' I don't either. I think living a good life brings meaning.
rogerthis 14y ago
One of the great questions of the logotherapy practice, though it's never put this way for obvious reasons, is when the patient seeks for help and the psychiastrist asks: why don't you kill your self? The whole job of the doctor is to help the patient to find the answer for this question and help him to integrate that answer into his life. And on the people who died in the camps being nihilists, well, the nazis didn't ask people about their ideas before killing them. And I think that some people had the death as their own meaning in life (e.g. the father who put himself in the death's line, in place of his child).

return0 14y ago

It's like people have a taste for orderly things, (after all, life feeds on the reduction of entropy). An absurd chaotic life is not satisfactory.

DigitalTurk 14y ago

Well, I think the trick is the find meaning in small things and not to worry too much (all of the time) about how what you do fits in the grand scheme of things. Because, indeed, things that are meaningful on a small scale might be absurd when you put them in a bigger context. So I don't see a contradiction here. Of course worrying about what things mean on a larger scale can be virtuous, but you also want to come to terms with your limitations as a human being in a specific context.

ibisum 14y ago

I suggest you read some Frankl and try not to be too reactionary to the position he holds. You may in fact learn something about your own position that "life may very well be absurd". No, the thousands who died were not nihilists; but the ones who did survive in spite of the odds, no matter what, were more able to do so when they had some meaning to their life. And that is a very, very powerful observation. Its especially relevant today, when .. in fact .. life can very well be absurd. The difference between the two conditions is, to put it simply, you.

Lost_BiomedE 14y ago

'Is the pursuit of meaning a requirement for living a good life? I don't think so.' I don't either. I think living a good life brings meaning.

rogerthis 14y ago

One of the great questions of the logotherapy practice, though it's never put this way for obvious reasons, is when the patient seeks for help and the psychiastrist asks: why don't you kill your self? The whole job of the doctor is to help the patient to find the answer for this question and help him to integrate that answer into his life. And on the people who died in the camps being nihilists, well, the nazis didn't ask people about their ideas before killing them. And I think that some people had the death as their own meaning in life (e.g. the father who put himself in the death's line, in place of his child).