Viktor Frankl is an Austrian psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor and the founder of logotherapy. His 1946 book Man’s Search for Meaning has been translated into more than 50 languages and remains one of the most influential books of the twentieth century.
Who is Viktor Frankl?
Viktor Frankl was already an established psychiatrist when he was deported to Auschwitz in 1942; his wife and parents did not survive. From that experience he developed logotherapy, the idea that the primary human drive is not pleasure but meaning. He wrote the first draft of Man’s Search for Meaning in a matter of days shortly after liberation, and it has gone on to shape how psychology talks about resilience.
Viktor Frankl’s books
- Man’s Search for Meaning — his defining book on meaning and survival
Where should you start?
Start with Man’s Search for Meaning. There is only one book you need to begin with — and it is also his most important.
Key ideas in Viktor Frankl’s work
- Meaning, not pleasure — people are motivated by a search for meaning rather than the pursuit of happiness
- The last of human freedoms — even when everything else is taken, you can choose your attitude toward it
- Suffering can be meaningful — how you carry impossible difficulty is where meaning is most available
- Logotherapy — his clinical approach, built around helping people find purpose
Frequently asked questions
What is Viktor Frankl best known for?
Viktor Frankl is best known for Man’s Search for Meaning, his account of surviving the concentration camps and the philosophy of meaning he built from it.
Should I read Man’s Search for Meaning first?
Yes. It is his defining work — short, and the best introduction to logotherapy.
