Origin of the name
In 1948 the Viennese psychiatrist Wolfgang Soucek called logotherapy the “Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy”. The name stresses both continuity with and difference from the two earlier schools.
| School | Founder | Basic human motivation |
|---|---|---|
| Psychoanalysis | Sigmund Freud | will to pleasure |
| Individual psychology | Alfred Adler | will to power |
| Logotherapy | Viktor Frankl | will to meaning |
What it added
Frankl believed that pleasure and power are rather by-products or means, not the ultimate goal of human beings. When the will to meaning is frustrated, people “escape” into the pursuit of pleasure or power. Logotherapy therefore does not replace the earlier schools but complements them with the spiritual - noetic - dimension.
Frankl, Freud and Adler
As a teenager Frankl corresponded with Freud, and in the 1920s he belonged to Adler's circle. From both traditions he took respect for working with patients, but he opposed reductionism - explaining what is human (conscience, love, faith) solely in terms of drives or compensation mechanisms.
Sources
Viktor Frankl Institut Wien - biography (1948); V. E. Frankl, The Will to Meaning.