Tragic Optimism
This post is about a short essay by the existential psychiatrist, Victor Frankl, called The Case for Tragic Optimism. Frankl wrote this in 1984 as a postscript to his classic book about his experiences of the holocaust: Man’s Search for Meaning. The essay makes the case for finding meaning in life despite the inevitable tragedies which we will experience. Frankl is, perhaps, one of the most accessible existentialist writers to read, and the essay is very engaging and thought-provoking indeed.
Here I’ll say a bit more about the author, summarise his argument, and say what I find inspiring about the essay, and where I feel it is limited or problematic.
Victor Frankl
Victor Frankl (1905-1997) was a professor of neurology and psychiatry who founded a type of therapy known as logotherapy. This was the thrid type of therapy to come out of the University of Vienna Medical School (following Freud’s psychoanalysis and Adler’s individual psychology). However, it was a lot more existential in nature than these more psychodynamic approaches, and has gone on to have a significant influence on the field of existential psychotherapy more broadly.
Frankl spent three years in Auschwitz, Dachau, and other concentration camps during World War II and these experiences had a marked impact on his philosophy and his therapy. They are movingly recounted in his book Man’s Search for Meaning. Following the war, Frankl returned to Vienna where he practised, and wrote and published over thirty books. He was also a visiting professor at Harvard.
Tragic Optimism
The Case for Tragic Optimism basically advocates a certain way of living, that is saying ‘yes’ to life in the face of its tragic elements. Here is a quick summary of the argument:
Frankl states that life involves three inevitable kinds of tragedy, the ‘tragic triad’:
Pain and suffering,
Guilt, because we are free to make choices in our lives, and are responsible for the impact of those choices, and
Death, and knowing that our life is transient.
He says that it is hard to find meaning in the face of such tragedy, but that if we do not, then our sense of meaninglessness lies behind our experiences of:
Depression,
Aggression, and
Addiction.
He also argues that meaninglessness is a particular issue in current western societies (when he was writing in 1984) where the youth see themselves as having ‘no future’ and people ‘have enough to live by but nothing to live for’ (p.142).
Frankl then puts forward three ways in which we can find meaning in our lives:
Through our work or deeds,
Through experiences or encounters with other people (e.g. love), and
Through rising above, and growing from, the inevitable suffering which we will experience.
So Frankl is advocating that we make meaning from all three kinds of tragedy:
Pain and suffering – from learning from the experience and finding meaning in it,
Guilt – by taking responsibility for our actions, and
Death – by living our life as if it was for the second time, knowing how we got it wrong the first time.
Frankl says that it is easy, in the face of inevitable tragedy, to fall in to nihilsm or to chase after things like happiness, success or youth instead of seeking meaning, especially in a culture which seems to encourage such pursuits. However, he is clear that the quest for meaning is the only one which he considers worthwhile. He suggests that seeking happiness is a form of ‘hyperintention’: Like trying to get to sleep, or trying to have an orgasm, it is one of those things that if we try too hard to make it happen we will be even less likely to achieve it. For Frankl the only true way to happiness is through finding meaning.
~Praveen Jada
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