Will to meaning
Will to meaning is a term coined by Viktor Frankl which refers to the idea that striving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man. It is to be contrasted with the will to pleasure in Freudian psychoanalysis and to the will to power in Adlerian psychology.
The search for meaning is taken to be the primary motivation in ones life and not a “secondary rationalization” of instinctual drives. This meaning is unique and specific in that it must and can be fulfilled by them alone; only then does it achieve a significance which will satisfy their own will to meaning. Some psychologists contend that meanings and values are “nothing but defense mechanisms, reaction formations and sublimations.” But, as Frankl put it, “as for myself, I would not be willing to live merely for the sake of my “defense mechanisms,” nor would I be ready to die merely for the sake of my “reaction formations.” Man, however, is able to live and even to die for the sake of his ideals and values!”
References
- Frankl, Victor. (1946). Man’s Search for Meaning Chapter 2 Logotherapy In A Nutshell (p. 113). Boston, MA: Beacon Books.
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