In this episode we unpack Jewish-Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's classic book "Man's Search for Meaning" from 1946.

This Book Explores...

• What happens when our will to meaning has become suppressed


• How we can derive meaning from our suffering


• Why 'what is the meaning of life?' is a bad question

Links to Reading & Articles mentioned

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

The Last Day of a Condemned Man by Victor Hugo

The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass

Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault

The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche

*note* reading is not required to enjoy this episode!

Host: Zach Stehura  ⁠UnpackingIdeas.com⁠

Guest: Barbara Spadaro

Theme Music: ⁠Polyens⁠o

Time Stamps

00:00 Introduction

O2:09 Context of book

0:3:36 Egoism & Altruism amongst Prisoners

09:11 Phase 1: Denial

09:58 The Delusion of Reprieve

12:10 Phase 2: Apathy

13:31 Psychology of Guards

16:15 Two Types of Trauma

18:51 Phase 3: Anger

20:05 The desire for Revenge

22:40 Truth and Reconciliation after WW2

Forgive but not Forget

26:15 Finding Meaning Through Suffering

31:00 Finding Meaning Through Love & Work

33:20 Logotherapy in a Nutshell

33:44 The Will to Meaning

36:28 Paradoxical Intention

37:20 The Paradox of Striving for Happiness

40:02 The Meaning of Life

40:57 How The Meaning of Life Changes During the Course of One’s Life

44:00 The Is One Correct Answer to Every Situation in Life

46:24 “Live as if you were living already for the second time…”

48:47 Outro