German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (1883?1969)
Karl Theodor Jaspers
(
,
German:
[ka?l
?jasp?s]
ⓘ
;
[4]
[5]
23 February 1883 ? 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss
psychiatrist
and
philosopher
who had a strong influence on modern
theology
, psychiatry, and philosophy. His 1913 work
General Psychopathology
influenced many later diagnostic criteria, and argued for a distinction between "primary" and "secondary" delusions.
After being trained in and practising psychiatry, Jaspers turned to philosophical inquiry and attempted to discover an innovative
philosophical system
. He was often viewed as a major exponent of
existentialism
in Germany, though he did not accept the label.
Life
[
edit
]
Jaspers was born in
Oldenburg
in 1883 to a mother from a local farming community, and a
jurist
father. He showed an early interest in philosophy, but his father's experience with the legal system influenced his decision to study law at the
University of Heidelberg
. Jaspers first studied law in Heidelberg and later in
Munich
for three semesters. It soon became clear that Jaspers did not particularly enjoy law, and he switched to studying
medicine
in 1902 with a thesis about criminology. In 1910 he married Gertrud Mayer (1879?1974), the sister of his close friends
Gustav Mayer
and Ernst Mayer.
[6]
[
citation needed
]
Jaspers earned his
medical doctorate
from the
University of Heidelberg
medical school
in 1908 and began work at a
psychiatric hospital
in
Heidelberg
under
Franz Nissl
, the successor of
Emil Kraepelin
and
Karl Bonhoeffer
, and Karl Wilmans. Jaspers became dissatisfied with the way the medical community of the time approached the study of
mental illness
and gave himself the task of improving the psychiatric approach. In 1913 Jaspers habilitated at the philosophical faculty of the
Heidelberg University
and gained there in 1914 a post as a
psychology
teacher. The post later became a permanent philosophical one, and Jaspers never returned to clinical practice. During this time Jaspers was a close friend of the Weber family (
Max Weber
also having held a professorship at Heidelberg).
[7]
In 1921, at the age of 38, Jaspers turned from psychology to
philosophy
, expanding on themes he had developed in his psychiatric works. He became a well-known philosopher across Germany and
Europe
.
After the
Nazi seizure of power
in 1933, Jaspers was considered to have a "Jewish taint" (
judische Versippung
, in the jargon of the time) due to his Jewish wife, Gertrude Mayer, and was forced to retire from teaching in 1937. In 1938 he fell under a publication ban as well. Many of his long-time friends stood by him, however, and he was able to continue his studies and research without being totally isolated. But he and his wife were under constant threat of removal to a
concentration camp
until 30 March 1945, when Heidelberg was occupied by American troops.
[8]
In 1948 Jaspers moved to the
University of Basel
in
Switzerland
.
[1]
In 1963 he was awarded the honorary citizenship of the city of Oldenburg in recognition of his outstanding scientific achievements and services to occidental culture.
[9]
He remained prominent in the philosophical community and became a naturalized citizen of Switzerland living in Basel until his death on his wife's 90th birthday in 1969.
Contributions to psychiatry
[
edit
]
Jaspers's dissatisfaction with the popular understanding of mental illness led him to question both the diagnostic criteria and the methods of clinical psychiatry. He published a paper in 1910 in which he addressed the problem of whether
paranoia
was an aspect of personality or the result of biological changes. Although it did not broach new ideas, this article introduced a rather unusual method of study, at least according to the norms then prevalent. Not unlike
Freud
, Jaspers studied patients in detail, giving biographical information about the patients as well as notes on how the patients themselves felt about their symptoms. This has become known as the
biographical method
and now forms a mainstay of psychiatric and above all psychotherapeutic practice.
[
citation needed
]
Jaspers set down his views on mental illness in a book which he published in 1913,
General Psychopathology
.
[1]
This work has become a classic in the psychiatric literature and many modern diagnostic criteria stem from ideas found within it. One of Jaspers's central tenets was that psychiatrists should diagnose symptoms of mental illness (particularly of
psychosis
) by their
form
rather than by their
content
. For example, in diagnosing a
hallucination
, it is more important to note that a person experiences visual phenomena when no sensory stimuli account for them than to note what the patient sees. What the patient sees is the "content", but the discrepancy between visual perception and objective reality is the "form".
[
citation needed
]
Jaspers thought that psychiatrists could diagnose
delusions
in the same way. He argued that clinicians should not consider a belief delusional based on the content of the belief, but only based on the way in which a patient holds such a belief. (See
delusion
for further discussion.) Jaspers also distinguished between
primary
and
secondary delusions
. He defined primary delusions as
autochthonous
, meaning that they arise without apparent cause, appearing incomprehensible in terms of a normal mental process. (This is a slightly different use of the word
autochthonous
than the ordinary medical or sociological use as a synonym for indigenous.) Secondary delusions, on the other hand, he defined as those influenced by the person's background, current situation or mental state.
Jaspers considered primary delusions to be ultimately "un-understandable" since he believed no coherent reasoning process existed behind their formation. This view has caused some controversy, and the likes of
R. D. Laing
and
Richard Bentall
(1999, p. 133?135) have criticised it, stressing that this stance can lead therapists into the complacency of assuming that because they do not understand a patient, the patient is deluded and further investigation on the part of the therapist will have no effect. For instance, Huub Engels (2009) argues that schizophrenic disordered speech may be understandable, just as
Emil Kraepelin
's
dream speech
is understandable.
Contributions to philosophy and theology
[
edit
]
Most commentators associate Jaspers with the philosophy of
existentialism
, in part because he draws largely upon the existentialist roots of
Nietzsche
and
Kierkegaard
, and in part because the theme of individual freedom permeates his work. In
Philosophy
(3 vols, 1932), Jaspers gave his view of the history of philosophy and introduced his major themes. Beginning with modern science and
empiricism
, Jaspers points out that as people question
reality
, they confront borders that an empirical (or scientific) method simply cannot transcend. At this point, the individual faces a choice: sink into despair and resignation, or take a
leap of faith
toward what Jaspers calls
Transcendence
. In making this leap, individuals confront their own limitless
freedom
, which Jaspers calls
Existenz
, and can finally experience
authentic existence
.
[
citation needed
]
Transcendence (paired with the term
The Encompassing
in later works) is, for Jaspers, that which exists beyond the world of
time and space
. Jaspers's formulation of Transcendence as ultimate non-objectivity (or no-thing-ness) has led many philosophers to argue that ultimately, Jaspers became a
monist
, though Jaspers himself continually stressed the necessity of recognizing the validity of the concepts both of
subjectivity
and of
objectivity
.
[
citation needed
]
Although he rejected explicit religious doctrines,
[1]
including the notion of a personal God, Jaspers influenced contemporary theology through his philosophy of transcendence and the limits of human experience.
Mystic Christian
traditions influenced Jaspers himself tremendously, particularly those of
Meister Eckhart
and of
Nicholas of Cusa
. He also took an active interest in
Eastern philosophies
, particularly
Buddhism
, and developed the theory of an
Axial Age
, a period of substantial philosophical and religious development. Jaspers also entered public debates with
Rudolf Bultmann
, wherein Jaspers roundly criticized Bultmann's "
demythologizing
" of Christianity.
[10]
Jaspers wrote extensively on the threat to human freedom posed by
modern science
and modern
economic
and
political
institutions. During World War II, he had to abandon his teaching post because his wife was Jewish. After the war, he resumed his teaching position, and in his work
The Question of German Guilt
he unabashedly examined the culpability of Germany as a whole in the atrocities of
Hitler
's
Third Reich
.
[11]
The following quote about the Second World War and its atrocities was used at the end of the sixth episode of the BBC documentary series
The Nazis: A Warning from History
: "That which has happened is a warning. To forget it is guilt. It must be continually remembered. It was possible for this to happen, and it remains possible for it to happen again at any minute. Only in knowledge can it be prevented."
[12]
Jaspers's major works, lengthy and detailed, can seem daunting in their complexity. His last great attempt at a systematic philosophy of Existenz ?
Von der Wahrheit
(On Truth) ? has not yet appeared in English. However, he also wrote shorter works, most notably
Philosophy Is for Everyman
. The two major proponents of
phenomenological
hermeneutics
, namely
Paul Ricœur
(a student of Jaspers) and
Hans-Georg Gadamer
(Jaspers's successor at Heidelberg), both display Jaspers's influence in their works.
[1]
Political views
[
edit
]
Jaspers identified with the
liberal
political philosophy
of
Max Weber
, although he rejected Weber's
nationalism
.
[13]
He valued
humanism
and
cosmopolitanism
and,
influenced
by
Immanuel Kant
, advocated an international federation of states with shared constitutions, laws, and international courts.
[14]
He strongly opposed
totalitarian
despotism
and warned about the increasing tendency towards
technocracy
, or a regime that regards humans as mere instruments of science or of ideological goals. He was also sceptical of
majoritarian
democracy. Thus, he supported a form of governance that guaranteed individual freedom and
limited government
, and shared Weber's belief that democracy needed to be guided by an
intellectual
elite
.
[1]
His views were seen as
anti-communist
.
[15]
Influences
[
edit
]
Jaspers held Kierkegaard and
Nietzsche
to be two of the most important figures in
post-Kantian philosophy
. In his compilation,
The Great Philosophers
(
Die großen Philosophen
), he wrote: "I approach the presentation of Kierkegaard with some trepidation. Next to Nietzsche, or rather, prior to Nietzsche, I consider him to be the most important thinker of our post-Kantian age. With
Goethe
and
Hegel
, an epoch had reached its conclusion, and our prevalent way of thinking ? that is, the
positivistic
, natural-scientific one ? cannot really be considered as philosophy."
[16]
Jaspers also questions whether the two philosophers could be taught. For Kierkegaard, at least, Jaspers felt that Kierkegaard's whole method of
indirect communication
precludes any attempts to properly expound his thought into any sort of systematic teaching.
Though Jaspers was certainly indebted to Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, he also owes much to more traditional philosophers, especially Kant and
Plato
.
Walter Kaufmann
argues in
From Shakespeare to Existentialism
that, though Jaspers was certainly indebted to Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, he was closest to Kant's philosophy:
Jaspers is too often seen as the heir of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard to whom he is in many ways less close than to Kant ... the Kantian antinomies and Kant's concern with the realm of decision, freedom, and faith have become exemplary for Jaspers. And even as Kant "had to do away with knowledge to make room for faith," Jaspers values Nietzsche in large measure because he thinks that Nietzsche did away with knowledge, thus making room for Jaspers' "philosophic faith".
[17]
In his essay "On My Philosophy", Jaspers states: "While I was still at school
Spinoza
was the first. Kant then became the philosopher for me and has remained so ... Nietzsche gained importance for me only late as the magnificent revelation of nihilism and the task of overcoming it."
[18]
Jaspers is also indebted to his contemporaries, such as
Heinrich Blucher
, from whom he borrowed the term, "the anti-political principle" to describe totalitarianism's destruction of a space of resistance.
[19]
Selected bibliography
[
edit
]
- Original German
- Psychologie der Weltanschauungen
- Nikolaus Cusanus
- Translations
- The Question of German Guilt
- New York: Dial Press, 1947
- Philosophy of Existence
?
ISBN
0-8122-1010-7
, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971
- Strindberg and Van Gogh: An Attempt of a Pathographic Analysis with Reference to Parallel Cases of Swedenborg and Holderlin
?
ISBN
0-8165-0608-6
- Reason and Existenz
?
ISBN
0-87462-611-0
- Way to Wisdom
?
ISBN
0-300-00134-7
- Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus
?
ISBN
0-15-683580-0
- Philosophy Is for Everyman
- Man in the Modern Age
- The Origin and Goal of History
(1949; English translation: 1953)
- Nietzsche: An Introduction to the Understanding of His Philosophical Activity
?
ISBN
0-8018-5779-1
, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997 (University of Arizona Press, 1965)
- Jaspers, Karl (1953).
The Origin and Goal of History
. translated by
Michael Bullock
. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
- Jaspers, Karl (1955).
Reason and Existenz
. translated by
William Earle
. New York: Noonday Press.
- Jaspers, Karl (1958).
The Future of Mankind
. translated by E. B. Ashton. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Jaspers, Karl (1997).
General Psychopathology ? Volumes 1 & 2
. translated by J. Hoenig and Marian W. Hamilton. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Thornhill, Chris; Miron, Ronny (2022),
"Karl Jaspers"
, in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.),
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(Spring 2022 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University
, retrieved
16 July
2022
.
- ^
Ernesto Spinelli (2007).
Practising Existential Psychotherapy: The Relational World
, Sage, p. 52: "Karl Jaspers can be considered to be among the earliest direct attempts to apply existential phenomenology to psychotherapy".
- ^
Gertrud Jaspers (Mayer)
Geni
- ^
"Duden | Karl | Rechtschreibung, Bedeutung, Definition"
.
Duden
(in German)
. Retrieved
22 October
2018
.
K?rl
- ^
"Duden | Jaspers | Rechtschreibung, Bedeutung, Definition"
.
Duden
(in German). Archived from
the original
on 22 October 2018
. Retrieved
22 October
2018
.
J?spers
- ^
Lewis, T.T. (2019).
"Karl Jaspers"
.
Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia
. Retrieved
30 January
2020
.
- ^
Radkau, Joachim (1995).
Max Weber: A Biography
. Polity Press.
ISBN
978-0745683423
. p. 29.
- ^
Wolfgang U. Eckart, Volker Sellin, Eike Wolgast:
Die Universitat Heidelberg im Nationalsozialismus.
Springer-Verlag, 2006, p. 339.
- ^
"1963: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Karl Jaspers"
.
Stadt Oldenburg
(in German). Oldenburg. Archived from
the original
on 23 October 2017.
- ^
See
Myth and Christianity: An Inquiry into the Possibility of Religion without Myth
? a debate between Jaspers and Bultmann, The Noonday Press, New York, 1958.
- ^
Celinscak, Mark (2015).
Distance from the Belsen Heap: Allied Forces and the Liberation of a Concentration Camp
. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
ISBN
978-1-4426-1570-0
.
- ^
Jones, Ian (26 August 2000).
"The Nazis: A Warning from History"
.
Off the Telly
. Archived from
the original
on 23 November 2011
. Retrieved
10 June
2013
.
- ^
Schilpp, Paul Arthur, ed. (1977).
The Philosophy of Karl Jaspers
. Open Court Publishing Company. pp. 57?58.
- ^
Carter, April (2013).
The Political Theory of Global Citizenship
. Routledge. pp. 147?148.
- ^
Blanchot, Maurice (1997) [1964].
"Apocalypse is disappointing." Friendship
. Translated by Rottenberg. Stanford University Press. pp. 101?108.
ISBN
0804727597
.
- ^
Jaspers, Karl (1962).
The Great Philosophers, Volume 4: The Disturbers: Descartes, Pascal, Lessing, Kierkegaard, Nietzche. Philosophers in Other Realms: Einstein, Weber, Marx.
New York: Harcourt, Brace & World. p. 191.
ISBN
9780151369430
.
- ^
Kaufmann, Walter A. (1980)
From Shakespeare to Existentialism: An Original Study
, Princeton University Press.
ISBN
0691013675
. p. 285.
- ^
Jaspers, Karl (1941).
"On My Philosophy"
.
- ^
Hans Mommsen, "Interpretation of the Holocaust as a Challenge to Human Existence", in Arendt in Jerusalem, ed. Ascheim, p. 227.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Claudio Fiorillo,
Fragilita della verita e comunicazione. La via ermeneutica di Karl Jaspers
,
ISBN
978-8-87999-463-7
Rome, Ed. Aracne, 2003.
- Azurmendi, Joxe
: "Bakearen inguruko diskurtsoaren jasangaitza" about
Die Schuldfrage
(Jaspers, 1946) in
Barkamena, kondena, tortura
, Donostia, Elkar: 2012
ISBN
978-84-9027-007-3
- Engels, Huub (2009). Emil Kraepelins Traumsprache: erklaren und verstehen. In Dietrich von Engelhardt und Horst-Jurgen Gerigk (ed.). Karl Jaspers im Schnittpunkt von Zeitgeschichte, Psychopathologie, Literatur und Film. p. 331-43.
ISBN
978-3-86809-018-5
Heidelberg: Mattes Verlag.
- Miron, Ronny,
Karl Jaspers: From Selfhood to Being.
Amsterdam/New York, NY, Rodopi: 2012
- Wallraff, Charles F.,
Karl Jaspers - An Introduction to His Philosophy.
,
ISBN
0-691-07164-0
Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press: 1970.
- Xavier Tilliette
,
Karl Jaspers
, Aubier, coll. ≪ Theologie ≫, 1960
External links
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