MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING
By Viktor Frankl
(Study Guide 1)
Please highlight the phrases in the book that guided your answers to the following
questions.
Please research on the concepts that were not elaborated in the book.
PREFACE 1
1. Explain the concept of “logotherapy”.
2. How can “existential analysis” apply to you as a student and a future success
story?
3. According to Viktor Frankl, when was he stripped to his naked existence?
4. How could you find life worth preserving according to existentialist philosophy?
5. What is the basic difference between Freud’s and Frankl’s approach to theory
and therapy?
6. Please explain “He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.” –
Nietzsche.
7. According to Frankl, what is the last of human freedoms?
PREFACE TO THE 1992 EDITION
(FOR BOOKS WITHOUT THIS, PLEASE CONSULT YOUR CLASSMATES.)
1. When the books became a bestseller, what was Viktor Frankl’s reaction?
2. Please explain, “Don’t aim at success – the more you aim at it and make it a
target, the more you are going to miss it.”
3. Narrate the dilemma of Viktor Frankl pertaining to his family and US visa.
PART ONE
Experiences in the Concentration Camp
1. Prepare a brief summary of the narration of Frankl’s experiences in the
concentration camp.
2. Briefly explain the soup vs. cigarette incident among the prisoners.
3. What are the three phases of the inmates’ mental reaction to camp life? Explain
each of the three phases.
4. Explain each:
a. Delusion of reprieve
b. Relative apathy
c. Depersonalization
(Our discussion this week will focus on the first stage.)
Prepared by:
Teacher June