本書以作者的集中營經歷為本,揭示人類生命的動力在於尋出意義;人只要參透為何而活,即能承受任何煎熬;而無論處境如何,亦皆有自由抉擇的餘地。本書深入淺出,但振聾發聵人人可讀。自出版迄今,轟動全球,堪稱為研究人類心理學與精神不可不讀的一本經典之作。
本書中譯本《活出意義來》,由「光啟文化」出版。
Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory-known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")-holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.
At the time of Frankl's death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. A 1991 reader survey for the Library of Congress that asked readers to name a "book that made a difference in your life" found Man's Search for Meaning among the ten most influential books in America.