Viktor Frankl
Just as science has its philosophical component, philosophy has its scientific component. And when a psychiatrist speaks of meaning in life we see meaning as shared territory between science and philosophy. Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl observed during his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps that meaning in life is a vital human need. In those unthinkable conditions, prisoners would nourish themselves on bits of philosophy and poetry; they appreciated the beauties of nature as never before; their religious life was very real; and many found strength to keep going from devotion to a loved one in another camp, even though they did not know whether the beloved was still alive. But if a prisoner gave up, let go of what gave life meaning, death would usually come within a few days.
Considering meaning philosophically, we find two aspects. First, meaning is something real that is discovered. That is the way we naturally think of meaning when intuition dawns; the insight comes clear: Eureka! I have found it! Second, meaning is something that we interpret; we naturally connect the idea of meaning with interpreting when studying some text whose meaning is debated or when we are aware that truth is many-sided, and differing interpretations may each contain truth. Taking the first side, meaning as discovered, in isolation leads to dogmatism, making an absolute of one’s point of view. Taking the second side, meaning as interpreted, in isolation leads to relativism, a kind of skepticism, according to which whatever anyone believes is the truth for him or her, and that there is no higher standard of truth, since every claim to a higher standard merely represents another opinion. We move beyond dogmatism and relativism by affirming a higher standard while acknowledging that our insight into truth is relative to the length, breadth, and depth of our experience.
Think of where you find meaning in life. Think of one or more of the realities–and concepts–that are most meaningful to you. Given the fact that others interpret such things differently, you can recognize that you are indeed interpreting. Just as experiment is needed to discover the truths of science, and faith is needed to appropriate the truths of religion, so interpretation is needed to grasp meaning. The meaning may seem so obvious that we have no occasion to recognize our interpretation. We may interpret excellently or hastily, but interpret we do. If you think otherwise, please say so (with an example). If you agree, how would you express the thought in your own words (example, please)?
Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy , trans. Ilse Lasch (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962). http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Viktor_Frankl2.jpg/109px-Viktor_Frankl2.jpg
Sharing of meanings safeguard against the two extremes of dogmatism and relativism by its power to influence the honest thinker. Consider this example: What is the meaning of this cough?
Today I use an example from my practice as a physician. In 1992, I was working as a contract physician in Womack Army Hospital, treating outpatients of retired military personnel who had not reached the age of 65. One morning I saw a middle age woman who came in complaining of severe cough. This coughing was so severe at times, that it causes the fracture of her ribs. She had seen other physician at the facility and numerous tests, were ordered and numerous medications prescribed all without effect relieving the problem or identifying the problem. Since she was a smoker, after the initial evaluation she was told that the smoking was the cause of her cough.
Now people who smoke can have a lingering cough, but in my years of practice I had never witnessed smoking as a cause of broken ribs unless the person had defective ribs caused by some genetic disease or pathological state such as metastatic cancer. So I took a careful history determining when the cough first began, and seeing if there was anything different that she was doing now that she had not been doing before the coughing began. She was on quite a few medications, including a medication called an ACE Inhibitor. Now this was a new medication that had recently come on the market, and one of the side effects was cough, but the drug company had downplayed this side effect so that the average practitioner during the period ignored this as a primary cause of coughing.
After reviewing her medications, I stopped the ACE Inhibitor and the coughing stopped. After further observation of this relationship between this medication and coughing and consulting with my colleagues over a period of time, I discovered that they too had witnessed the effect of this association much more frequently that what was purported by the drug company. Thus I was able to satisfactorily rest with some assurance that this medication was probably responsible for the majority of people having a cough who were taking it.
So now instead of first assigning this cough to some other cause, I stop the medication first and see if this step resolves the problem. This practice prevents other needless and expensive test and other medication from being pursued. If stopping the medicine does not correct the problem, a more comprehensive pursuit of the cause can be initiated. Now it is generally recognized this medicine does cause most of the coughs when patients are being treated with it. The drug companies have since discovered other analogues of this medication that is just as effective but does not cause the cough.
Sharing my experience with this drug confirmed that my discovery of the relationship between the drug and the cough was far more common than expected or suspected and thus saved me from the two barren extremes of dogmatism and relativism as well being a more effective physician
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Dr Perry
I’m glad to see this story, Dr. Perry; it strikes me initially as a story of scientific living. But the philosophical dimension is pervasive; so we can get some mileage out of this for philosophical living. Dogmatism here would be represented by an individual who was closed to considering any other than the customary treatment for a symptom. A degree of relativism might arise in situations where there was so much uncertainty that to select a particular treatment to begin with would seem almost like rolling the dice. Another type of skepticism would be represented by a person who is so fed up with medical institutions as to discredit the sense in which scientific truth does guide medical practice. The spirit of inquiry shown here is precisely the attitude that avoids dogmatism and skepticism, neither of which inquire.
Sharing of meanings safeguard against the two extremes of dogmatism and relativism by its power to influence the honest thinker. Consider this example: What is the meaning of this cough?
Today I use an example from my practice as a physician. In 1992, I was working as a contract physician in Womack Army Hospital, treating outpatients of retired military personnel who had not reached the age of 65. One morning I saw a middle age woman who came in complaining of severe cough. This coughing was so severe at times, that it causes the fracture of her ribs. She had seen other physician at the facility and numerous tests, were ordered and numerous medications prescribed all without effect relieving the problem or identifying the problem. Since she was a smoker, after the initial evaluation she was told that the smoking was the cause of her cough.
Now people who smoke can have a lingering cough, but in my years of practice I had never witnessed smoking as a cause of broken ribs unless the person had defective ribs caused by some genetic disease or pathological state such as metastatic cancer. So I took a careful history determining when the cough first began, and seeing if there was anything different that she was doing now that she had not been doing before the coughing began. She was on quite a few medications, including a medication called an ACE Inhibitor. Now this was a new medication that had recently come on the market, and one of the side effects was cough, but the drug company had downplayed this side effect so that the average practitioner during the period ignored this as a primary cause of coughing.
After reviewing her medications, I stopped the ACE Inhibitor and the coughing stopped. After further observation of this relationship between this medication and coughing and consulting with my colleagues over a period of time, I discovered that they too had witnessed the effect of this association much more frequently that what was purported by the drug company. Thus I was able to satisfactorily rest with some assurance that this medication was probably responsible for the majority of people having a cough who were taking it.
So now instead of first assigning this cough to some other cause, I stop the medication first and see if this step resolves the problem. This practice prevents other needless and expensive test and other medication from being pursued. If stopping the medicine does not correct the problem, a more comprehensive pursuit of the cause can be initiated. Now it is generally recognized this medicine does cause most of the coughs when patients are being treated with it. The drug companies have since discovered other analogues of this medication that is just as effective but does not cause the cough.
Sharing my experience with this drug confirmed that my discovery of the relationship between the drug and the cough was far more common than expected or suspected and thus saved me from the two barren extremes of dogmatism and relativism as well being a more effective physician
]
Dr Perry
I’m glad to see this story, Dr. Perry; it strikes me initially as a story of scientific living. But the philosophical dimension is pervasive; so we can get some mileage out of this for philosophical living. Dogmatism here would be represented by an individual who was closed to considering any other than the customary treatment for a symptom. A degree of relativism might arise in situations where there was so much uncertainty that to select a particular treatment to begin with would seem almost like rolling the dice. Another type of skepticism would be represented by a person who is so fed up with medical institutions as to discredit the sense in which scientific truth does guide medical practice. The spirit of inquiry shown here is precisely the attitude that avoids dogmatism and skepticism, neither of which inquire.