accompany this series as a guide. The formatting and layout is due to Bernhard Keller, and the beautiful presentation of the books is wholly attributable to his expertise.
The first book in this series was a collaborative project combining discussions of the theory of logotherapy by Lukas with numerous case studies by Schönfeld. The present book, the second in the series, is a textbook by Elisabeth Lukas on the fundamental concepts of logotherapy and their applications. This book has been reprinted in German many times, but there has not, until now, been a satisfactory translation available in English.
Thanks to Dr. Kagelmann of Profil Verlag, the holder of the rights for the German version of the books, for generously giving his permission for an English language version.
The third book, which will appear shortly, is a further collaboration between Lukas and Schönfeld, combining case studies with discussions of how these cases illustrate the practical application of logotherapeutic methods.
All that remains is to wish all of these books on the practical application of logotherapy success in the English-speaking world. May it give readers a glimpse into the vitality and relevance of these lifechanging therapeutic methods!
Dr. Heidi Schönfeld
Director of the Elisabeth-Lukas-Archive
Translator’s Note
Logotherapy is notoriously tricky to translate, as indicated by Frankl’s dissatisfaction with the translations of his own works. In developing his ideas, Frankl made use of nuances of language: metaphor, wordplay, and poetry, and it is not always possible to render these into another language. What is important is to make sure that Frankl’s intentions are respected, that his underlying respect for the human spirit in all its responsibility and freedom is kept in focus.
Elisabeth Lukas is a student of Frankl who followed very closely in his footsteps, and this classic work illustrates her achievements in developing the practical applications of Frankl’s logotherapeutic methods. To do justice to these methods, and provide a satisfactory reference work for an English-speaking world, we have to be careful that the nuances do not become misleading. To stay on track, we simply need to recall that meaning is always there to be found, and that we have, inalienably, within ourselves, everything we need to find it.
A note on the many Frankl quotations in this book. Most of these have been cited from German originals, and in these cases the translations are all mine. In many cases there is no English translation available, and even where there is, we often felt that a new translation was better suited to the needs of Lukas’ text.
Dr. David Nolland
LOGOTHERAPY’S
CONCEPT OF MAN
Classification of Logotherapy
Logotherapy was founded by the Viennese psychiatrist and neurologist Viktor E. Frankl (1905-1997). It can be categorized amongst the many therapeutic approaches existing today by noting to two main points of view:
1. According to W. Soucek, logotherapy is the “Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy”, where Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis is the “First Viennese School of Psychotherapy” and Alfred Adler’s Individual Psychology is the ”Second Viennese School of Psychotherapy”. There is a simple rule of thumb to help us remember the emphases of these three approaches: Sigmund Freud focused on the “will to pleasure”, Alfred Adler on the “will to power”, and Viktor E. Frankl on the “will to meaning”. Naturally these are only simplified descriptions, which cannot claim to do full justice to the corresponding schools of psychotherapy. They merely characterise typical areas of research. Freud’s comprehensive theories focus on human drives – in particular the gratification of the sexual drive – which, if suppressed, become a source of psychic disorder. Adler examined the relationship of the individual to the social environment and derived the theory that deepseated feelings of inferiority lead to compensatory striving for power. Frankl ultimately saw human beings as entities who want to shape life in a meaningful way, and who can become psychically ill when their will to meaning is frustrated.
2. In American textbooks logotherapy is considered a “third force” in psychotherapy, a third approach, though in a somewhat different sense than for Soucek. In the USA, psychoanalysis is regarded (purely historically) as the ‘first force’, behavioural therapy is regarded as the “second force” and so-called existential psychiatry, which became well-known in Europe through Charlotte Bühler’s concept of “humanistic psychology”, is regarded as the ‘third force’. Logotherapy is seen as part of this third force, although Frankl’s concepts differ in one important respect from the ideas of humanistic psychology. In logotherapy, self-actualization is not recognized as the highest goal of human existence, as is the case for all of the many versions of humanistic psychology. In logotherapy, self-actualisation is not recognized as the highest goal of human existence, as is the case for all of the many versions of humanistic psychology. In logotherapy, the self-transcendence of human beings rates higher than self-actualisation. What this means will be explained below. Here it must only be established that in the American context logotherapy is assigned to the third force of psychotherapy, even though its content goes beyond it.
“People who set themselves an objective such as selfactualisation overlook and forget that ultimately human beings can actualise themselves only to the extent to which they fulfil a meaning in the external world, not within themselves. In other words, self-actualization evades being defined as an objective insofar as it occurs as a side-effect of other objectives. This is what I call the ‘self-transcendence’ of human existence.”1
Again, there is a simple rule of thumb for distinguishing the emphases of these three major groups of psychotherapy according to the American classification. This is what it says: Psychoanalysis sees humans as “abreacting beings”; behavioural therapy sees humans as “reacting beings”; logotherapy sees humans as “acting beings”. These are also simplified descriptions, whose memonics are a play on words: each time a prefix is deleted. Ab-re-acting represents the drive dynamic which is the brainchild of psychoanalysis. Re-acting represents the conditioning and learning processes which are the focus of behavioural therapy. And the capacity for acting in freedom emphasises human freedom of will, which is highly regarded in logotherapy.
Giambattista Torello once asserted that logotherapy is the last complete system in the history of psychotherapy. What he meant by “complete” is that logotherapy as a therapeutic approach is based on a finely honed concept of human beings and of the world. He was not mistaken, for the edifice of logotherapeutic thought is supported by three “pillars”, which Viktor E. Frankl designated as
freedom of will – will to meaning – meaning of life
The two outside pillars are axioms which elude scientific proof, as many thinkers and philosophers before Frankl had already established. The middle pillar, the will to meaning, can and has been proven by experimental psychological studies to be a primary motivating force for human beings. Let us look at the three pillars in detail:
Pillar 1
The question of how “free” or “unfree” humans really are has been asked throughout history. According to logotherapy, every human being has freedom of will, at least potentially. This potential freedom of will can be constrained at times by illness, immaturity, or senility, or can even be overridden, but this does not affect its fundamental existence. Logotherapy is a “non-deterministic” psychology.
“Logotherapy’s concept of man is based on three pillars, the freedom
