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Psychology 213 Chapter 14
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Psych 213Chapter 14- Viktor Frankl
I. Background
A. Felt that Freud placed undue emphasis on the will to pleasure (need satisfaction)
as the driving force of human behaviour
B. Adler over-accentuated the will to power (self esteem needs) as the major motive
for human behaviour
1. Believed that both Adler and Freud portrayed human nature one-sidedly
2. Says that the unman person seeks more in life than mere pleasure and power
C. Also believes that as human beings, we are primarily motivated by a will to
meaning
D. He is an existentialist psychologist with an unusually positive perspective
1. He spoke of tragic optimism
a) Meaning that we can nd meaning even in su ering, guild and death
II. The view of the person underlying the theory
A. Highlights the fact that we have been given freedom to be able
1. to exercise responsibility
2. to live a life beyond brute existence
3. To live on a dimension of meaning in realising timeless values as these emanate
from a divine or transhumance dimension
4. To live highly personalised lives as we embrace the opportunities and ful l the
tasks that life presents to each one of us
B. Freedom to be responsible
1. The human person is primarily a spiritual being
a) A being that has freedom and responsibility
2. This forms the basis of his view and his description of personality
3. Sees the person as not merely a highly developed animal shaped by the forces
of heredity and environment
4. The person has been given the freedom to be responsible
a) Meaning that as humans, we constantly face choices and that we have the
freedom to choose between them
b) Therefore we are not compelled to behave in a certain way
c) Because of our free will, we can be held responsible for our choices
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, (1) And therefore we cannot ascribe our actions to conditioning or drives
(a) However we may say that we have decided to give in to our drives
5. Because we are responsible, we have to bear the consequences of your
choices
6. Mentions the noögenic dimension
a) A dimension that actually identi es us as human beings
C. A level of being beyond brute existence
1. Believes that the human person needs to nd a reason to live
2. True ful lment is hardly possible without a sense of purpose (spiritual direction)
in life
3. He feels that the central issue for the human person is not the struggle to
survive but the struggle to nd and experience meaning in life
a) “meaning” - means the opportunity, task or duty presented to and
discerned by use through our conscience as something we are to embrace,
realise and act upon in each and every unique situation of our own personal
lives
4. Every situation of life contains a unique challenge to live our lives purposefully,
with meaning
5. Meant to live lives that transcend a mindless kind of existence in the futile
pursuit of only pleasure and power
6. Has a strong stand against the reductionism of psychoanalysis and learning
theorists
a) Who explain all human behaviour on the basis of phenomena that belong to
the subhuman levels of the being
(1) E ectively denying that there are any intrinsic di erences between
human and animal behaviour
(2) True that we actually have much in common with the animal
(3) However self transcendence is a uniquely human capacity
(a) We have the freedom to rise above conditions in being able to think
and also do something about them
7. Maintains that self actualisation is not man’s ultimate goal nor even his primary
intention
a) Contradicts the self transcendent quality of human existence
8. Does not see us as striving merely to maintain a state of homeostasis or need
satisfaction
a) We want to be involved in something outside our own skins
b) We want to live our lives purposefully for a good cause, for some sensible
reason
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