Meaning as Cognitive Alignment Reinterpreting Viktor Frankl's Logotherapy Through Cognitive Alignment Science

This working paper develops a conceptual framework for understanding meaning as a structural component of cognitive alignment in decision-making systems. Reinterpreting Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy through the lens of Cognitive Alignment Science (CAS), the paper argues that meaning functions as a high-level alignment mechanism that stabilizes intentional orientation, preserves decisional coherence, and sustains agency under conditions of uncertainty and stress. Building on insights from existential psychology, cognitive science, decision theory, and alignment research, the paper formalizes alignment as a multi-layered property of decision architectures, encompassing intentional, interpretive, decisional, and behavioral dimensions. Within this framework, meaning is treated not as a subjective experience or therapeutic outcome, but as a functional constraint that maintains coherence across cognitive layers when lower-level regulatory processes degrade. The analysis demonstrates that Frankl’s observations constitute an early, pre-formal account of alignment preservation under extreme conditions. By generalizing this insight beyond individual psychology, the paper extends its relevance to organizations, socio-technical systems, and contemporary challenges in artificial intelligence alignment and governance. The work is theoretical in scope and intended to provide a foundational conceptual reference for future empirical, organizational, and computational research on resilient decision systems.