Philosophical Approach to Literary Criticism

UNIT 4: Man’s Search for Meaning, by Victor Frankl, and related readings

PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH TO LITERATURE

Philosophical (or moral) criticism evaluates the ethical content of literary works. However, these critics evaluate the work in its totality, not passages taken out of context. Philosophical critics acknowledge that literature can have positive effects on people by increasing their compassion and moral sensitivity, but it can have negative effects on people, too. If humans are rational, they will listen to reason when it is spoken; and they will reject evil and embrace good.

This literary criticism style approaches literature based on its ethical merits. Moral-philosophical critics evaluate literary works based on the moral/philosophical statements and judgments the characters and author express throughout the literary text.

EXISTENTIALISM

A philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.

Originated in the 19th century with writers like Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, and Nietzsche, and in the first half of the 20th century is developed more formally by Sartre, Camus, and Heidegger.

LOGOTHERAPY

The notion of logotherapy was created with the Greek word logos ("meaning"). Frankl's concept is based on the premise that the primary motivational force of an individual is to find meaning in life. The following list of tenets represents basic principles of logotherapy:

• Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserable ones.

• Our main motivation for living is our will to find meaning in life.

• We have freedom to find meaning in what we do, and what we experience, or at least in the stance we take when faced with a situation of unchangeable suffering.

The human spirit is referred to in several of the assumptions of logotherapy, but the use of the term spirit is not "spiritual" or "religious". In Frankl's view, the spirit is the will of the human being. The emphasis, therefore, is on the search for meaning, which is not necessarily the search for God or any other supernatural being. Frankl also noted the barriers to humanity's quest for meaning in life. He warns against "...affluence, hedonism, [and] materialism..." in the search for meaning.