Cost of Introductory Course: $350
Module One: The Spiritual Dimension
- Theory of man
- Three dimensions; Noölogical dimension; unconditional worth
- To be human is to be conscious and responsible
- Conscious mind, unconscious mind and noös; what ‘ought to be’
- SOAR: self-transcendence, outside perspective (self-detachment; self-distancing), autonomy (self-determining; defiant power); responsibility
- Historical context
- Viktor Frankl’s life story
- Context of philosophy and psychology
- Man’s Search for Meaning
- What makes logotherapy unique
Module Two: Principles of Human Existence
- Freedom of Will
- What freedom is not
- Freedom to decide
- Will to Meaning
- Motivational theory; different in kind than the desire for power or pleasure
- Healthy tension vs. stress
- Meaning of Life (philosophy of life)
- Unconditional meaning
- Logos is deeper than logic
- Basic trust in life
Module Three: What Makes Every Moment Meaningful?
- What is ‘meaning’?
- Meaning is the message
- Meaning is concrete
- We are personally addressed
- Meaning is embedded in reality
- Relationship with meaning
- To be human is to be continually confronted – You are never a detached observer
- Values radiate
Module Four: Conscience and Responsibility
- Sense of meaning
- How to recognize conscience
- Half-sure and whole-hearted: Why we must obey our conscience
- How to access conscience and avoid self-deception
- Response-Ability
- Meaning must be found, not invented
- Answering the personal call
- Meaning of the moment
Module Five: Pathways to Finding Meaning
- Creative path
- Value of a task
- Uniqueness
- Experiential path
- Meaning of music
- Seeing a person as he could be
- Genuine/authentic relationship
- Attitudinal path
- When you cannot change a situation you are challenged to change yourself
- Attitudinal values ‘rank higher’
Module Six:Pathways to Meaning
- Creative values
- Experiential values
- Attitudinal values
Module Seven: Meaning Despite Unavoidable Suffering
- Tragic triad: pain, guilt, death and loss
- Existential vacuum/existential frustration
- Neurotic triad: Aggression/violence; depression; addiction
- Collective neurosis
- Tragic optimism :Meaning despite pain, guilt, death
- Happiness: the side-effect of finding meaning
Required reading:
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Frankl, Viktor