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Man's Search for Meaning is a 1946 book by Viktor Frankl chronicling his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose to each person's life through one of three ways: the completion of tasks, caring for another person, or finding meaning by facing suffering with dignity.
The first English use of the expression "meaning of life" appears in Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus (1833–1834), book II chapter IX, "The Everlasting Yea". [1]Our Life is compassed round with Necessity; yet is the meaning of Life itself no other than Freedom, than Voluntary Force: thus have we a warfare; in the beginning, especially, a hard-fought battle.
In many cases, the two overlap: a meaningful life is often important in some sense and finding importance in life can act as a key to making life meaningful. However, it has been argued that this is not always true. So there may be cases in which the two come apart. [20] [21] [22] Importance is usually defined in terms of having an impact on ...
Kintish said that with some editing it would have been "a more accessible read", but added that the book was still full of "original gems". [5] David Goodstein, a physicist who attended the lectures in 1963, wrote in American Scientist that while the book has "some nuggets of pure Feynman gold", it is "badly dated and atrociously edited". [7]
Purpose in life and meaning in life constructs appeared in Frankl's logotherapy writings with relation to existential vacuum and will to meaning, as well as others who have theorized about and defined positive psychological functioning. Frankl observed that it may be psychologically damaging when a person's search for meaning is blocked.
Finding a source of meaning may resolve a crisis, like altruism, dedicating oneself to a religious or political cause, or finding a way to develop one's potential. Other approaches include adopting a new system of meaning, learning to accept meaninglessness, cognitive behavioral therapy , and the practice of social perspective-taking .
Existential nihilism is the philosophical theory that life has no objective meaning or purpose. [1] The inherent meaninglessness of life is largely explored in the philosophical school of existentialism, where one can potentially create their own subjective "meaning" or "purpose".
Ikigai can be described as having a sense of purpose in life, [5] [6] as well as being motivated. [7] According to a study by Michiko Kumano, feeling ikigai as described in Japanese usually means the feeling of accomplishment and fulfillment that follows when people pursue their passions. [8]