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Name:
Karl Jaspers
Dates:
Born: February 23, 1883 in Oldenburg, Germany
Died: February 26, 1969 in Basel, Switzerland
Specialization:
Existentialism
Psychology
Historyof Philosophy
Major Works:
General Psychology (1913)
Philosophy (1932)
Reason and Existenz (1935)
From Truth (1947)
The Origin and Goal of History (1949)
PhilosophicalFaith and Revelation (1962)
Biography:
Karl Jaspers was a German philosopher whose place in the history of
philosophy is based primarily on his work in existentialism. He originally studied law
and medicine, even receiving an M.D. from University of Heidelberg and teaching
psychiatry at Heidelberg for a while. He probably could have had a distinguished
career in psychiatry had he not later turned to philosophy.
According to Jaspers, philosophy was not a matter of any particular conclusions on any particular set of issues, but rather a specific type of thinking about the way the world is and how the world works. An important concept in his works is that of das Umgreifende ("the encompassing"), which he used to refer to the ultimate limits of being, an indefinite horizon in which both subjective and objective experience is made possible, but which we cannot understand rationally.
Another important concept for Jaspers was that of Existenz ("existence"). He used this to describe the state of freedom and possibility for authentic being of individuals who have become consciously aware of "the encompassing" and confront limiting situations in human life like guilt, conflict and even death. Reason may create the boundaries for contemplating the objects in life, but Existenz creates the boundaries for contemplating the persronal subject which does the contemplating.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
Related Resources:
Biographies of Philosophers
This index of biographical index of famous philosophers throughout history includes many others who have contributed to our understanding of human nature and life - including sociologists, psychologists, scientists, and more.What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? Is there any point in studying philosophy, or is it a useless subject? What are the different branches of philosophy - what's the difference between aestheitcs and ethics? What's the difference between metaphysics and epistemology?
