Re-reading Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning” (Simon and Schuster, A Clarion Book, 1959, 145 pp.) has been a really interesting experience for me. The book is challenging me to reflect on how important I believe meaning to be in my life and in the life of others. I have come up with an imaginary example that I think may help to illustrate the crucial role that meaning should play in everyone’s life. 

In writing last week’s column based on Viktor Frankl’s wonderful book “Man’s Search for Meaning” (Simon and Schuster, A Clarion Book, pp. 145), I felt a little insecure writing about psychology. Not being a psychologist, I was nervous about whether I was accurate in how I explained Frankl’s logotherapy or meaning therapy.

am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist. I have never been in therapy. I do have a friend who is a psychologist and he often answers questions about psychology that I have. What I do have is a strong interest in psychology, especially how it relates to a philosophy and theology of the human person. 

Recently I spent a night in bed turning and tossing and hoping that sleep would arrive. It initially was a terrible experience. Probably many reading this column have had similar experiences. But even a sleepless night can provide a moment of grace. Friends tell me that when they cannot sleep, reciting the rosary helps them to be at peace and to sleep. 

As I reported in last week’s column, Gabriel Marcel (1889-1973) is my favorite philosopher.

My favorite existentialist philosopher is Gabriel Marcel. His insights into the mystery of the human person are beautiful, even inspiring. But reading him is demanding. One of the best essays I have read explaining Marcel’s vision of the human person and God is in Father Francis M. Tyrrell’s wonderful book “Man: Believer and Unbeliever” (New York: Alba House, 1974, 415 pp.).

The last two columns were about existentialist philosophers. One was about Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), the first existentialist and a deeply religious Christian, the other was about the most famous atheistic existentialist, Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980).

I had an interesting experience last August. I was at the dentist and the gentleman who handles finances for the dentist and who is very interested in computers, asked me a question: “What are you going to do about artificial intelligence?” I told him that I did not know anything about it. 

About a month ago I had a strange experience in relation to one of the philosophy courses that I teach at St. John’s University. The students and I were about to begin studying the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). As I was looking through my notes I discovered 10 pages of notes about Kierkegaard that I had not looked at in years. These 10 pages were misplaced among other notes. 

There are several reasons why I greatly enjoyed an essay in the October 2023 issue of Commonweal, “From Glory to Glory: Louis Bouyer’s Cosmic Vision” by Robert P. Imbelli. One reason is that it brought back some wonderful memories.