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PYC2601 EXAM PACK
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- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
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, PYC2015 – Exam Preparation – 2010 (2)Self-Concept Theory – Viktor Frankl (1905-1997)
Background - Page 436
Worked as professor of Neurology an psychiatry in Vienna
Contemplated the meaning and purpose of human existence
Opposed ideas that humans are mere mechanisms or animals
Was a student of Freud and Adler
He believed that as human being we are primarily motivated by a will to
meaning
Own school of thought called logo therapy, known as the third Viennese school
of psychotherapy
Jewish prisoner in several Nazi camps(having something to live for was what
enable prisoners to hold on to the will to live)
Transcendental vision of being encompasses a great deal more than Maslow’s
theory of self-actualisation
Unusually positive perspective, believed in indestructible significance of life
Death is the boundary which makes life a unique, unrepeatable opportunity,
life is given to us so that we can find meaning, even in suffering
View of the person underlying the theory – Page 438
We have been given freedom to be able to exercise responsibility,
To live life beyond mere animal existence,
To live on a dimension of meaning in releasing timeless values as these
emanate from a divine Trans human dimension,
To live highly personalized lives as we (uniquely) embrace the opportunities and
fulfill the tasks that life presents to each one of us
Freedom to be responsible – Page 439
Person is not merely a highly dev eloped animal shaped by the forces of
heredity and the environment but the human person is primarily a spiritual
being – a being that has freedom and responsibility
We are also not compelled to behave in any particular way, we can say YES or
NO
Because of this freedom to make choices we cannot ascribe our behaviour to
conditioning or drives, but must take responsibility for making those choices and
taking responsibility = noögenic dimension = makes us human
Level of being beyond animal existence – Page 439
True fulfillment is hardly possible without a sense of purpose (spiritual direction) in
life – the struggle to find and experience this MEANING in life = the opportunity
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, PYC2015 – Exam Preparation – 2010 (2)
presented to and discerned by us through our conscience as something we are
to realise or to grasp in each and every unique situation of our own personal
lives
It is true that on a physical and crude psychosocial level we have much in
common with the animal, but we also have properties NOT shared by animals
Being a person is distinguished by the radical transcendence of the
biopsychical, and social faculties and a combination thereof
Self-transcendence = the freedom to rise above conditions and being able to
think and do something about them
When we achieve psychological and spiritual maturity the will to meaning will
be stronger that any other motivation
We want to know, we will make sacrifices, and devote ourselves to a cause
Transhuman Dimension – Page 440
Meaning is something that exist in an objective sense and is
phenomenologically proven by the fact that in life we feel addresses by our
conscience, called upon to act responsibly
Conscience is the vehicle through which we detect meaning, the one right
thing to do in any particular situation or moment in life
We are not merely subjected to the social restrictions our superego has
internalized, this conscience functions on a higher level
“life is unconditionally meaningful” = faith – the substance of thins hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen
Highly personalized way of being (personally accountable) – Page 442
Something can only be meaningful if it is personally experienced as such
“religion is genuine only if we commit ourselves to it by freely choosing to be
religious, never can anyone be forced to it”
Life holds meaning under all circumstances and that meaning can be
experienced by anyone at anytime
We are only fully what we have been created to be when we live and move
and have our being our being on the dimension of meaning
The structure of the personality – Page 443
Three dimensions of the personality
There are three levels or dimensions of existence :
o Physical
o Psychological and
o Spiritual
Physical level:
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, PYC2015 – Exam Preparation – 2010 (2)
o Described as nothing but a complex biochemical mechanism powered
by a combustion system which energizer computer with prodigious
storage facilities for retaining encoded information.
Psychological level:
o The person has needs and drive, in many ways similar to animals
Spiritual level (noögenic)
o This dimension is unique to human beings
o Due to our spiritual capacities we as human beings, are free
o We are open systems, open towards ourselves (we can think and change
ourselves) and towards the world (we can think about and change our
world)
Human beings behaviours is determined by drives and instincts.
Spiritual core of the personality – Page 444
He describes the spiritual dimension as the personal ground of being
Human personality has a spiritual core
Not primarily our genetic make-up nor the environment that shape our
personalities
It’s how we deal with both these factors which then determine our personality
Dynamics of the personality – Page 445
Frankl speaks about noödynamics (spiritual dynamics) of being human, rather
than psychodynamics
Our wills are not instrumental in satisfying instincts (pleasure) or ensuring self-
preservation (power)
Dynamics of the personality are based on:
o Freedom of the will
o Will to meaning
o Meaning of life
Freedom of the will – Page 445
We all constantly faces choices and the decisions we make determine the
future course of events
Not absolutely free – contend with our own limitations and constraints placed
upon us by our particular environments.
Our freedom is contained in what we will achieve, despite our limitations
Will to meaning – Page 446
The will to meaning is deeper and more powerful than any other human
motivation:
o Our will are free
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