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Existential theory of Victor frankl
Personality Theories (PYC2601)
University of South Africa
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THE EXISTENTIALTHEORY OF VICTOR FRANKL BACKGROUND • Existential Psychology • Kierkegaard & Heidegger → Existential philosophers • Studied Freud & Adler → Freud placed undue emphasis on will to pleasure → Adler focused too much on will to power • Third Viennese school of Psychotherapy. • Transcendental theory of being • Life is given to us so that we can find meaning, even in suffering. VIEW OF THE PERSON • Humans have been given the freedom to exercise responsibility • We live on a dimension of meaning in realizing timeless values emanating from a divine/transhuman dimension. 1. The Freedom to be Responsible • Human being = Spiritual being → Has freedom & responsibility. → Not just a highly developed animal • Free will = Freedom to choose → Can’t blame our actions on conditioning or drives → Have to bear responsibility 2. A Level of Being Beyond Animal Existence •True fulfillment is impossible without a sense of purpose • Every situation contains a challenge to live our lives purposefully, with meaning. • Rejects psychoanalysts & learning theorists who explain all human behavior on the basis of subhuman levels of being • Physical, psychological and social aspects → are natural and do not radically distinguish humans from animals. • Self-Transcendence → Uniquely human → We have the freedom to rise above conditions, and to think and do something about them • We are geared towards finding meaning in life, even if our will to meaning is dormant or suppressed. 3. The Transhuman Dimension • Freedom without responsibility is senseless ∴ Freedom to question life & its meaning is senseless if such meaning doesn’t exist. • Meaning → Not created or invented, but found ∴ Exists in an objective sense → proved by the fact that we feel addressed by our conscience & called upon to act right → Emanates from a transhumant dimension → Have universal and timeless significance → can be discovered by anyone, at any time, under any circumstances. • Conscience→ The vehicle through which we detect meaning → More than just the superego → has transcendent qualities • Faith → Unshakeable belief that life has ultimate meaning → The subjective experience of the objective existence of a Transhuman dimension → “The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen” 4. A Highly Personalised (Personally Accountable) Way of Being • Meaning of life cannot be incorporated by one religion • Dimension of meaning transcends our comprehension of it • Every person has the right & freedom to decide to what he is accountable • Something is meaningful only if it is personally experienced as such • Religion is genuine only when it is existential p442 • Noodynamics/ spiritual dynamics rather than psychodynamics • Dynamics of the personality are based on: ○ The freedom of the will ○ The will to meaning ○ The meaning of life 1. The Freedom of the Will • Every person experiences his will as free • Not absolutely free → Must deal with our own limitations & environmental constraints. 2. The Will to Meaning • Deeper & more powerful than any other motivation • Proof: ○ The will to meaning is found in circumstances of destitution as well as of plenty (Thus will to meaning is characteristic of being human) ○ The satisfaction of physical & psychological needs is not the aim of human striving but rather the means to be free to strive towards spiritual goals ( Thus disagrees with Maslow) ○ The more a person pursues happiness, the more it eludes him because happiness is the effect of attaining meaning & cannot be pursued as an end in itself. ○ When the will to pleasure or power is uppermost in our behavior this is a sign that our will to meaning is frustrated (Spiritual emptiness, an existential vacuum in our lives) 3. The Meaning of Life • Meaning can be found in 3 Principle ways: ○ The creative things we do ○ The uplifting things we experience ○ The kind of attitude we have towards situations of unavoidable suffering p449 • Creative Values → Values we experience through what we contribute towards life → Any creative contribution makes us feel meaningfully part of life → eg: when work is a creative expression of responsibility we find meaning in our work • Experiential Values → Blessings we receive from life, manifested in what is good, beautiful & true → Things that call forth our appreciation & involves us → Love = the greatest experiential value • Attitudinal Values → Values we experience through the right attitude towards life esp towards unavoidable suffering → “Tragic triad of human existence” : = pain, guilt and death. Three inevitable facts confronting us at all times → “The moment suffering has a reason, it loses its unbearable quality and it becomes another one of life’s tasks, one which - because it asks so much of us - offers us the opportunity to achieve moral greatness. “ → Suffering offers the opportunity to transcend adversity. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PERSONALITY • At birth → life is an open possibility → Spiritual core already present • Only at the end of our lives are we fully actualized, since the personality forming is a lifelong process. • Spiritual characteristics → eg self-consciousness, responsible behavior, conscience → emerge during the course of development • Children → a “time gestalt” → still focused on pleasure, as adolescents are focused on power • Only in maturity are we fully developed p451 OPTIMAL DEVELOPMENT • When we function on a spiritual level/ when spiritual sides of our natures are fully evident • Work is a response to responsibility → an opportunity to make a worthwhile contribution to life 7. Appreciation of Beauty, Goodness and Truth • Receptive to experiences of the good, the beautiful and the genuine • Deeply enjoy and appreciate art, literature, music and nature • Open to new experiences • Rogers → Existential living • Maslow → zestful experience of life 8. Respect and Appreciation for the Uniqueness of Others • Won’t use others to achieve own ends • Want meaningful encounters with others • No prejudice or discrimination 9. Meaning in Suffering • Mature people accept the factualities of life • This deepens their belief in the meaning of life • People who discover meaning in suffering have reached the highest peak of development VIEWS ON PSYCHOPATHOLOGY 1. The Noogenic Neurosis • People do not reach optimal development because they lack the courage to respond tio the challenge of life •Conscience becomes dulled → Seek pleasure, power and position → have an adroit busyness (speed mania) → Basic will to meaning becomes frustrated → Life becomes empty and meaningless. • Characteristics: ○ An Unplanned, day-to-day existence → aimlessness → no future goals or purpose ○ A Fatalistic Attitude towards Life → See themselves as helpless victims of their circumstances ○ Conformism → To evade the stress of authenticity → Afraid to be different and take a committed stand ○ Totalitarianism → People are told what to do, believe and how to behave → This system suits those who prefer to be blind followers 2. The Human Dignity of the Psychiatric Patient • Frankl reinstated the humanity of the mental patient • Manifestations of psychosis or retardation conceals a spiritual person, unassailable by mental disease • Nucleus of the person remains indestructible. IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS • Accepts: Freud → evil, selfish inclination in human nature Behaviorists → We are shaped by our environment • BUT → we can choose to overcome our aggressive impulses • The nature of our choices determine whether we grow in moral stature or lapse into evildoing EVALUATION OF THE THEORY • Criticism from positivistic science POV: ○ Theory falls short of ideals of science : Not based on experimental research Does not lend itself to empirical investigation • BUT → Concentration camps can be seen as a scientifically valid experiment • Perhaps spiritual phenomena such as meaning and faith cannot be subjected to experimental and empirical investigation •Call for a more phenomenological approach • “New Paradigm research” • The theory is not a complete personality theory → deals almost exclusively with motivation • Main contribution = highlights the spiritual dimension of human existence
Existential theory of Victor frankl
Course: Personality Theories (PYC2601)
University: University of South Africa
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