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Key Terms

Logotherapy

Logotherapy is the psychotherapeutic method developed by Frankl as an alternative to the Freudian and Adlerian approaches. The term is derived from the Greek word logos, meaning reason.

Neurosis

Neurosis is a psychological disorder, typically anxiety-related. Unlike psychosis, neurosis does not involve loss of contact with reality. The term is no longer in wide use.

Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is a form of psychological treatment pioneered by Sigmund Freud. Central to this method are guided examinations of one’s childhood and of one’s nighttime dreams.
psychosis. A psychological disorder that involves loss of contact with reality. It may be caused by a variety of conditions, notably schizophrenia.

SS

SS, an abbreviation Schutzstaffel (“protection squadron”), is the paramilitary organization that ran the concentration camps and supplied the guards. Formed in 1933, the SS remained largely independent of the German army. (Combat units known as the Waffen-SS did, however, serve under army commanders.)

Capo

Capo is Italian for “head.” As capitalized by Frankl, it refers to a prisoner who oversees work parties and other inmate activities in order to obtain better living conditions for himself. Capos often treated rank-and-file prisoners worse than SS guards did. Frankl quotes a prisoner saying sarcastically, of a Capo, “Imagine! I knew that man when he was only the president of a large bank. Isn't it fortunate that he has risen so far in the world?" 

Typhus

Typhus is an infectious disease that killed many camp inmates. It is more common in crowded and unsanitary conditions, where it may be spread by fleas or lice. The infectious agent itself is one of several species of bacteria.

The Will to Meaning

The will to meaning is Frankl’s term for the deep need every person has for a purpose in life—something or someone to live for. As a last resort, suffering can itself be a source of meaning. Frankl contrasts the will to meaning with Freud’s will to pleasure and Adler’s will to power.

The Will to Pleasure (The Pleasure Principle)

The will to pleasure is Frankl’s term for Freud’s doctrine (which Frankl rejects) that the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain are primary drivers of human behavior. Freud’s own term for this doctrine is “the pleasure principle.”

The Will to Power

The phrase the will to power, coined by Friedrich Nietzsche, is adopted by Alfred Adler to describe everyone’s desire for social status, for a position of superiority rather than inferiority.

Tragic Triad

In his 1984 postscript Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankl considers the tragic triad as pain, guilt, and death. The optimistic view he recommends of these is to see each as an opportunity—to display courage and overcome adversity; as motivation to do better; to look back with satisfaction on a life one lived.

Places

Auschwitz

A concentration camp in far southern Poland, where Frankl was sent soon after being arrested in Vienna. This camp was established by Nazi Germany in 1939, only months after the invasion of Poland, and over time became a hub for a whole network of camps in that geographic area. Frankl spent only a short time in Auschwitz before being sent to another camp.

Dachau

The first concentration camp, it was established in southern Germany in 1933. Like Auschwitz, Dachau was a hub for a regional network of camps. Frankl describes being sent to Dachau in the closing weeks of the war.

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