From the Search for Meaning to the Sources of Meaning: Viktor Frankl and Rudolf Steiner

Can life have meaning if we are compelled to do the things we do? Perhaps, as creatures of nature, meaning lies in acting as naturally as possible. Is this a deterministic view? Sigmund Freud wrote, "The moment one inquires about the sense or value of life, one is sick." On one hand, a cog in a machine plays a meaningful role in the workings of the machine. On the other, doesn't the meaning, then, belong to the machine? The cog is interchangeable, replaceable. There is no individual, personal meaning. As parts in the machinery of nature, we’d be as mechanical robots. Perhaps, then, the meaning of life refers to the unknowable workings of a higher power. We live out the inexorable destiny the gods intended for us. There again, there is no personal meaning. We are as marionettes dancing to strings pulled by the gods. This course accepts neither of those views. Rather, it follows the adage: "Dissatisfaction is the first step," acknowledging that quest and question stem from the same root – and leading us into the deepest recesses of the soul in attempt to determine what it means to be human.

Estimated average course time for completion of this course: 3 weeks