Meaning is discovered, not invented
For Frankl meaning is objective in the sense that we do not create it arbitrarily - we discover it in the situation we are in. He compared this to looking at a picture: meaning is something that “stands out” from the background of reality as the best possibility of a given moment.
Meaning is concrete
There is no single, general “meaning of life” for everyone. Asking about the meaning of life “in general” is, according to Frankl, like asking a chess champion for “the best move in the world”. There is only the best move in this game, in this position. Every person and every moment is unique. Logotherapy is therefore concerned above all with meaning here and now - the meaning of this morning, of this decision.
Reversing the question
One of Frankl's most important turns is the reversal of the question of meaning: it is not we who ask life what its meaning is - it is life that asks us. We answer not with words but with actions - responsibly. When someone says “there is nothing good waiting for me in life any more”, one can ask: “what does life still expect from you?” - perhaps life has no gift for us right now, but we can give something.
Discovering or giving meaning?
Polish translations of Frankl sometimes speak of “giving” meaning, which causes debate. In Frankl, however, it means adopting an attitude of searching for the good meaning of what happens to me - not inventing meaning. For him meaning and the good are almost identical, and conscience can only uncover them. A human being is not a “factory of meanings”.
Albert Camus and Irvin Yalom think differently: in the face of the absurdity of the world one must have the courage to give meaning. Here logotherapy parts ways with some of existential psychotherapy at the level of assumptions - although in practice the therapist does not argue metaphysics with the patient but stays with their experience.
Meaning of the moment and ultimate meaning
Frankl distinguished the meaning of the moment - a concrete task here and now - from ultimate meaning, the final, all-embracing meaning that exceeds human understanding and can only be an object of trust or faith. The existence of a world of meaning and values is an axiom in logotherapy - it can be experienced but not proven.
Unconditional meaning
Life has meaning under all conditions - including suffering, guilt and death (the tragic triad). Even when nothing can be done and nothing experienced, the possibility remains of realising meaning through one's attitude.
Sources
V. E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning; The Doctor and the Soul (Ärztliche Seelsorge); A. Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus; I. D. Yalom, Existential Psychotherapy.