Reinterpretation of Logotherapy’s Dimensional Ontology via Embodied Phenomenology

Abstract

This article examines foundational tenets of logotherapy and proposes an embodiment-focused reinterpretation of Frankl’s dimensional ontology. We begin by contrasting negative orientations to suffering via the existential vacuum with positive orientations to transformation grounded in three expressions of the noetic: discovery of meaning, self-detachment, and self-transcendence. Next, we examine the philosophical basis for an embodied logotherapy via a reinterpretation of meaning discovery as well as a reinterpretation of soma, resulting in somatic reinterpretations of the noetic expressions of discovery of meaning, self-detachment, and self-transcendence. Finally, clinical applications with transcriptions are used to illustrate how somatic-experiential methods can be more intentionally integrated into clinical practices while ensuring logotherapy remains true to its philosophical commitments.

In the evidence

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• State of the evidence: Philosophy of mind ↑Supports

  Argues that logotherapy's dimensional ontology can be reinterpreted through embodiment, recasting meaning discovery, self-detachment, and self-transcendence as somatic processes integrable into clinical practice.

  Synthesized September 27, 2026

Comparable studies

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