Purpose Research
Cover of The Pursuit of Meaning

The Pursuit of Meaning

Viktor Frankl, Logotherapy, and Life

Joseph Fabry

Your own unique meaning
awaits you.

  • With a preface by Viktor E. Frankl
  • Used in logotherapy training courses for many years
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Published2013
First published1969
Pages184
ISBN9780982427897
ISBN, hardcover9780982427842

About this book

Contains the essence of the logotherapeutic writings of Viktor Frankl, who noted that many readers report that they understand some parts of logotherapy for the first time after reading this book.

Logotherapy, the unique system of “therapy by meaning,” encourages us to discover the true meaning in our lives, build a realistic self-image, and find the creative power within ourselves.

“Life does not owe us pleasure; it does offer us meaning.”p. xix

From the book

The struggle for meaning is not easy. Life does not owe us pleasure; it does offer us meaning. Mental health does not come to those who demand happiness but to those who find meanings; to them happiness comes as a side product. “It must ensue” noted Frankl. “It cannot be pursued.”

Logotherapy maintains and restores mental health by providing a sound view of the human being and the world as we know it. It draws on the huge reservoir of health stored in our specifically human dimension—our creativity, our capacity to love, our reaching out to others, our desire to be useful, our ability to orient to goals, and our will to meaning.

Logophilosophy emphasizes what is right with us, what we like about ourselves, our accomplishments, and our peak experiences. It also considers the qualities we dislike so we may change them, our failures so we can learn from them, our abysses so we may lift ourselves up, knowing that peaks exist and can be reached.pp. xix-xx

Endorsements

Dr. Fabry assists his readers to overcome frustration, find direction in situations of emptiness, doubt, and despair, and presents them with a comprehensive exposition of my thoughts in popular language.… Many [readers] have confided to me that some of the logotherapeutic ideas and concepts they first encountered in my writings became completely clear to them only when they read them again in Dr. Fabry’s formulations.

Viktor FranklAuthor of Man’s Search for Meaning

In the press

Holds out the light of Dr. Frankl’s charisma to a broader audience.

Murray ZimmermanLos Angeles Times

A simplified explanation of Viktor Frankl’s ideas.

The New York Times

A moving and accurate account, well illustrated and documented.

Paul E. JohnsonChristian Theological Seminary

Very readable… will appeal to anyone interested in the purpose of life.

Choice, Books for College Libraries

A book of lasting value.

The Boston Globe

Contents

  1. Foreword by Viktor Frankl (1987)
  1. —Foreword by Viktor Frankl (1987)ix
  1. 1Personal Discovery1
  2. 2The Human Dimension14
  3. 3What is the Meaning of Life?30
  4. 4The Value of Values48
  5. 5Our Intuitive Conscience57
  6. 6The Essence of Humanness71
  7. 7Our Crumbling Traditions84
  8. 8The Challenge of Freedom99
  9. 9Applications of Logotherapy115
  10. 10The Reality of Religion134

About Joseph Fabry

Fabry was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1909, obtained a Doctor of Law degree from the University of Vienna, but as a Jew had to flee to Belgium where he was kept in a detention camp, then to England, and eventually to the United States. By 1942, he was writing radio scripts for the Voice of America, even though he had never studied English until 1938. He went on to become an editor for the University of California at Berkeley.

He retired to found the Institute of Logotherapy, a research and training center for the meaning-oriented methods of Frankl and his followers. Long a spokesperson for Logotherapy in the United States, Joseph Fabry wrote or edited a number of books including the popular The Pursuit of Meaning (translated into 11 languages), Logotherapy in Action, and Logotherapy in Sharing Groups. Fabry was director of the Institute’s publication program and Editor of the International Forum for Logotherapy. He taught logotherapy at John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, California, led sharing groups, and gave seminars and training to helping professionals.

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