Ch10-The Problem of Meaning

The Problem of Meaning
我们面临的困境是，一方面，人类需要意义；另一方面，世界上唯一绝对的就是无常(no absolutes)。
那么问题来了，如何在无常的世上寻找意义？
Meaning of Life
Cosmic meaning implies some design existing outside of and superior to the person and invariably refers to some magical or spiritual ordering of the universe. Terrestrial meaning may,as we shall see,have foundations that are entirely secular—that is, one may have a personal sense of meaning without a cosmic meaning system.
Cosmic Meaning
Secular Personal Meaning
-Personal Meaning in the Absence of Cosmic Meaning
Camus的观点：在荒唐的世上寻找意义
Camus used the word "absurd"to refer to the human being's basic position in the world-the plight of a transcendent meaning-seeking being who must live in a world that has no meaning. Camus stated that we are moral creatures who demand that the world supply a basis formoral judgment-that is,a meaning system in which is implicit a blue-print of values.But the world does not supply one:it is entirely indifferent to us. The tension between human aspiration and the world's in-difference is what Camus referred to as the "absurd" human condition.
solution: heroic nihilism
A human being,Camus believed,can attain full stature only by living with dignity in the face of absurdity.The world's indifference can be transcendedby rebellion,a prideful rebellion against one's condition. 
Satre
What is important for both Camus and Sartre is that human beings recognize that one must invent one's own meaning (rather than dis-cover God's or nature's meaning) and then commit oneself fully to fulfilling that meaning. This requires that one be,as Gordon Allport put it,"half-sure and whole-hearted"-not an easy feat. Sartre's ethic requires a leap into engagement. On this one point most Western theological and atheistic existential systems agree: it is good and right to immerse oneself in the stream of life.
作者接着列举了一些给人以意义的secular activities:
1. Altrusim
2. Dedication to a cause
3. Creativity
4. The Hedonistic solution
5. Self-actualization
-Self-transcendence
后两种与自我相关，而前三种意义在某种程度上超越了自我。
One begins with oneself in order to forget oneself and to immerse oneselfinto the world;one comprehends oneself in order not to be preoccupied with oneself.
心理学家认为，自我超越是有life circle的。年轻时候往往更关注自我，年长后逐渐关心他人、世界…
Frank’s contribution
basic assumption: 反对弗洛伊德对人性的reductionistic view. 认为人的一切行为都可以用其基本需求的满足来解释。
Frank认为，以pleasure为人生动力是self-defeating的。因为一个人越是追求快乐，就离真正的快乐越远：
Happiness ensues; it cannot be pursued."(Alan Watts put it:"It's only when you seek it that you lose it.) Pleasure is thus not the final goal but is a by-product of one's search for meaning.
Loss of meaning-Clinical implications
现代生活让人容易丧失意义感
Modern man's dilemma,Frankl states,is thatone is not told by instinct what one must do,or any longer by traditionwhat one should do.Nor does one know what one wants to do.Twocommon behavioral reactions to this crisis of values are conformity(do-ing what others do)and submission to totalitarianism(doing what otherswish).
临床症状：
-Existential Vacuum and Existential Neurosis
感觉无聊，冷漠，空洞。愤世嫉俗，怀疑一切
-Crusadism
-Nihilism
Nihilism is characterized by an active, pervasive proclivity to discredit activities purported by others to have meaning. The nihilist's energy and behavior flow from despair. 
-Vegatative
One sinks into a severe a state of aimlessness and apathy. 
-Compulsive Activity
疯狂投身于某项活动中，耗尽全部精力，规避对人生意义的追问。比如疯狂追求名与利的人，直到最后突然质疑这一切的意义。
Clinical Research
self-esteem对于人生meaning而言，必要但不充分。
The authors concluded that a satisfactory level of self-esteem is necessary but not sufficient for a well-developed sense of meaning: that is,it is possible for an individual with high self-esteem to have low meaning in life but not for one with low esteem to have high meaning. One must,as Erik Erik-son suggested, solve the task of establishing self-worth and personal identity before being able to develop a satisfying sense of lifemeaning.
研究结果如下：
1.A lack of sense of meaning in life is associated with psychopathology in a roughly linear sense: that is,the less the sense of meaning,the greater the severity of psychopathology. 
2.A positive sense of meaning in life is associated with deeply held religious belief. 
3.A positive sense of life meaning is associated with self-transcendent
values.
 
4.A positive sense of meaning in life is associated with membership in groups,dedication to some cause,and adoption of clear life goals.
5.Life meaning must be viewed in a developmental perspective:the types of life meaning change over an individual's life; other developmental tasks must precede development of meaning.