Nominal Socratic Dialogue or Finding the Basic ID: An Existential Analytical Tool for Finding Meaning

Meaning in logotherapy and existential analysis is the actual, experiential, and attitudinal expression of someone’s unique spiritual relationship with the world of realities (Basic ID). The proposed “Nominal Socratic dialogue” focuses on the unconscious attitudinal expressions in connection to the individual’s reality. Attitudes decide about experiences and change. Using the model of Frankl’s arguments for a tragic optimism as the vehicle to find the unique spiritual personal relationship with the world of realities is the aim of what is called “existential analysis” (Existenzanalyse). The goal of the procedure is to find out for whom or for what someone originally decided to live and to apply this for a tailored logotherapy.