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Definition of Logos
Logos, along with ethos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Logos is an argument that appeals to... read full definition
Logos, along with ethos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Logos is... read full definition
Logos, along with ethos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective... read full definition
Logotherapy in a Nutshell: The Will to Meaning
Explanation and Analysis—Statistics and Science:
Frankl dedicates Part II of Man’s Search for Meaning to laying out his doctrine of logotherapy and all terms and concepts associated with it. He often uses logos (appeal to logic) to persuade the reader of logotherapy’s scientific merit.
For example, in the subsection “The Will to Meaning,” Frankl argues that most of the population is searching for a purpose to life and that psychotherapy should respond to this need. He supports this claim with statistical evidence:
Another statistical survey, of 7,948 students at forty-eight colleges, was conducted by social sciences at Johns Hopkins University. [...] Asked what they considered “very important” to them now, 16 percent of the students checked “making a lot of money”; 78 percent said their first goal was “finding a purpose and meaning to my life.
Later in the subsection “The Existential Vacuum,” Frankl continues that his psychotherapeutic methods are the solution to this inner emptiness (“the existential vacuum”) which pervades the population of the 20th century. He again makes his case with statistics:
A statistical survey recently revealed that among my European students, 25 percent showed a more-or-less marked degree of existential vacuum. Among my American students it was not 25 but 60 percent.
With this empirical evidence for the lack of direction among his students, Frankl suggests an opening for logotherapy: young people in the 20th century struggle to find purpose in their lives, and logotherapy offers a solution. Frankl also uses logos in other ways. He provides frequent examples and counterexamples to show readers that his doctrine is supported by real-life experience. Moreover, he appeals to the empirical sciences, such as neuroscience, to strengthen his claims about logotherapy with evidence supported by scientific experiments.
Related Themes:
Logotherapy in a Nutshell: The Existential Vacuum
Explanation and Analysis—Statistics and Science:
Frankl dedicates Part II of Man’s Search for Meaning to laying out his doctrine of logotherapy and all terms and concepts associated with it. He often uses logos (appeal to logic) to persuade the reader of logotherapy’s scientific merit.
For example, in the subsection “The Will to Meaning,” Frankl argues that most of the population is searching for a purpose to life and that psychotherapy should respond to this need. He supports this claim with statistical evidence:
Another statistical survey, of 7,948 students at forty-eight colleges, was conducted by social sciences at Johns Hopkins University. [...] Asked what they considered “very important” to them now, 16 percent of the students checked “making a lot of money”; 78 percent said their first goal was “finding a purpose and meaning to my life.
Later in the subsection “The Existential Vacuum,” Frankl continues that his psychotherapeutic methods are the solution to this inner emptiness (“the existential vacuum”) which pervades the population of the 20th century. He again makes his case with statistics:
A statistical survey recently revealed that among my European students, 25 percent showed a more-or-less marked degree of existential vacuum. Among my American students it was not 25 but 60 percent.
With this empirical evidence for the lack of direction among his students, Frankl suggests an opening for logotherapy: young people in the 20th century struggle to find purpose in their lives, and logotherapy offers a solution. Frankl also uses logos in other ways. He provides frequent examples and counterexamples to show readers that his doctrine is supported by real-life experience. Moreover, he appeals to the empirical sciences, such as neuroscience, to strengthen his claims about logotherapy with evidence supported by scientific experiments.
Related Themes:
