Homo patiens - the suffering human

Homo faber and homo patiens

In Homo patiens (1950) Frankl contrasted:

• homo faber - the creative human, who judges life in terms of success and failure,
• homo patiens - the suffering human, for whom the axis is defined by fulfilment - despair.

A different axis

The two axes are perpendicular. One can succeed and fall into despair - and one can fail and still reach fulfilment. That is why a suffering person who bears their fate well often matures more than someone for whom everything goes well.

The dignity of suffering

For Frankl the capacity to suffer is an achievement, not merely a defeat. Suffering rightly borne is a work in itself - the realisation of attitudinal values.