This book paints a brief picture of Karl Jaspers’ unusual life and philosophy. The reader gets to know a brave personality who had to face a life between extremes. Threatened by an incurable disease and harassed by the Nazi regime, Jaspers nevertheless succeeds in building a fruitful work as a psychiatrist, researcher, academic teacher, philosopher and political writer and living an unusually happy marriage in the process. The reader is introduced to the main themes of his thinking: the meaning of life in borderline situations, interpersonal communication, God, the meaning of history and the defense of democracy. His criticism of illiberal totalitarian ways of thinking,
Table of Content
1. Stages of an arduous but happy life.- 2. The encounter with two controversial thinkers: Max Weber and Martin Heidegger.- 3. What is the meaning of being human? – 4. Liberal ethos of humanity, morality and education.- 5. Transcendence and cipher metaphysics instead of religious belief in a personal God.- 6. Philosophical belief in reason as an alternative to religious belief in revelation.- 7. History and the Axial Age in world history.- 8. World history of philosophy and the vision of a future ‘world philosophy’ .- 9. On the understanding of politics.- 10. Politics, reason and democratic culture.- 11. Provocative statements on German politics of the time.- 12. On the diversity of Jaspers’ thinking.- 13. Effect and topicality.
About the author
Kurt Salamun is Professor i. R. for philosophy at the Karl-Franzens-University Graz.
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