In the second section, the “memoir” aspect of the novel ends and he goes into eighteen subsections describing logotherapy. During his introduction, he begins by defining logotherapy with psychoanalysis, it is “less retrospective and less introspective”. Then onto the development behind the name. “Logos” is the Greek word for meaning. Logotherapy means to find personal meaning in life. Frankl then goes into detail about the differences between Freud, Adler and himself. Freud speaks of a “will to pleasure” and Adler speaks of a “will to power,” Frankl focuses on a “will to meaning.” In logotherapy, the most important force in a man’s life is his desire to find meaning. He then begins his next subsection called “The Will to Meaning”. Frankl explains a “man’s search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life”.
Then into the subsection titled “Existential Frustration” in which he defines “existential” the state of existing as a human, the value and meaning of existence, or the will to meaning. He then explains existential frustration can result in neuroses which brings the reader to another subsection called “Nöogenic Neurosis”. He first begins to contrast himself from Freud and explains that only logotherapy deals with the fundamental problems of being human. He then tries to prove logotherapy’s worth and gives an example of an issue only logotherapy can cure and psychoanalysis cannot. Frankl also expresses although he went through a lot at the concentration camps, one’s problems do not have to be to this extreme to benefit from logotherapy. In the next subsection, he expresses that although logotherapy helps their patients become aware of their frustrations, it does not take away their frustrations.
Instead, they use their frustrations to help their patients find meaning in life. Frankl also explains humans are in constant search for their meaning in life, it will not just appear. This is called Noö-dynamics. In his sixth subsection, Frankl goes into detail about people trying to fill a void and feel as if life is meaningless. Which he called The Existential Vacuum. He also expresses that he does not think psychoanalysis is useless, but one with mental illness can not become nor stay healthy without logotherapy. In the next subsection titled “The Meaning of Life”, he explains that every single person has a different purpose and once a man is aware of his responsibilities, which logotherapy helps with, he can find meaning in his life. The next subsection emphasizes responsibilities which he called “The Essence of Existence”. Frankl writes “The “categorical imperative” of logotherapy which is ‘live as if you were living already for the second time and if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now.’”
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This encourages patients to focus on their responsibilities. In this subsection, he also explains logotherapy helps patients see their lives and futures more clearly. In the next section, titled “The Meaning of Love” Frankl discusses by loving someone, one can see that person’s potential. One then becomes responsible for helping find their meaning in life. Frankl went through an extensive amount of suffering throughout his life. In the ninth subsection, he goes in detail about “The Meaning of Suffering”. He gives real-world examples of how to overcome suffering and emphasizes suffering not being the only path to find meaning in life. He also expresses how his suffering helped him find his meaning in life. In this subsection of the novel, called “A Logodrama”, Frankl gives examples of how logotherapy has helped people find meaning in their lives.
Frankl then writes about “The Super-Meaning”. He explains that no one man can find the super-meaning to their life but instead should find as much meaning in certain situations. He also expresses he does not use logotherapy to make patients religious but patients who already are faithful should talk about super-meaning in a religious way. Frankl argues about “Life Transitoriness”. He writes “the transitoriness of our existence in no way makes it meaningless.” Logoterapsit tells their patients to think of their accomplishments instead of the number of days a person has left in their life. In the fourteenth subsection, Frankl brings up more common problems that would be more relevant to the reader rather than his experience in the camps. In “Logotherapy as a Technique” Frankl’s idea is that by fearing something and worrying about it so much, one brings about that which one fears. For example, if someone is scared to speak in public, and focuses on that fear, they won’t be able to publicly speak. This section explains how logotherapy helps patients feel as if they have control of their minds.
In the fifteenth subsection, Frankl strongly disagrees with the “Collective Neurosis” at the time, which was nihilism which is the belief that life is meaningless. In “Critique of Pan-Determinism” Frankl expresses his belief that man has a choice over his destiny and because of man’s freedom, one’s destiny can change at any time. In the second to last subsection, “The Psychiatric Credo”, Frankl expresses his belief that his methods will help anyone no matter how low their mental health because man has the freedom to choose their path. Finally, in the last subsection, he writes “Psychiatry tried to interpret the human mind merely as a mechanism, and consequently the therapy of mental disease merely in terms of a technique. I believe this dream has been dreamt out.” Frankl believes to treat patients more as humans than as machines and who a man becomes is based on the decisions a man makes
