The Self and Its Hazards - A Guide to the Thought of Karl Jaspers

Sep 29, 2026

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A biographical and critical overview presents Karl Jaspers and his philosophical program through the framework of existentialism. It contextualizes the rise of existentialist thought, contrasts it with Freud, and introduces key themes including crisis in philosophy, the limits of science, selfhood, limit-situations, and transcendence. The text then supplies background on Jaspers’ intellectual formation and historical experiences, and frames his distinctive approach as both clarifying and enabling new construction beyond negativity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages52

Reading Time1 h 20 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

Biographical Note

The Self and Its Hazards

Crisis in Philosophy

The Limits of Science

Selfhood

Limit-Situations

Transcendence

Karl Jaspers

S0 !I SELF ANDITSHAZARDS # A guide to the thought of Karl Jaspers # E.L.ALLEN B 3279 J34 A44 1950 # The Library of the School of Theology at Claremont 1325 North College AvenueClaremont,CA91711-31991/800-626-7820 ## THE SELF ANDITS HAZARDS ## The Self andIts Hazards by E.L.ALLEN LondonHODDER &STOUGHTON MADE AND PRINTED IN QRBAT BRITAIN FOR HODDER ANDSTOUQHTON LnTLD,LONDON,BY C.TINLDNO AND CO.,LTD.,LTVERPOOL,LONDON AND PRECOT. Theology LibraryCHOOL OF THEOLOGAT CLAREMONTCalifopnio CONTENTS BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE .6 7 THE SELF AND ITS HAZARDS IO I CRISIS IN PHILOSOPHY I7 2 THE LIMITS OF SCIENCE .24 3 SELFHOOD ·3I 4 LIMIT-SITUATIONS 5 TRANSCENDENCE ·37 KARL JASPERS was born at Oldenburg onFebruary 23,1883.His first interests were inpsychological medicine and in I908 he was appointedassistant at the psychiatric clinic in Heidelberg.Five years later he became Lecturer in Philosophythere and was appointed Professor in I920.Hisfirst work was done in the field of psychiatry;inI9I3 he published a text-book of psycho-pathology(Allgemeine Psychopathologie’). This led himnext to a study of the various philosophical systemsaccording to their psychological types(‘Psychologieder Weltanschaungen,'I919),and so to the pub-lication of his‘Philosophie’in 3 volumes in I932.In his Die‘Schuldfrage'he tells us how,in theearly days of the National Socialist régime,he hadhoped for intervention by the Western powers to saveGermany from tyranny.He was dismissed fromhis post at that time.He was for a short time Rectorof the University after it had been reopened by theAmericans,but his health did not permit him tocontinue.He retained his professorship,however,andbecame again a force in German intellectual life.In 1948 he accepted an invitation to the chair ofphilosophy at Basle. ## KARL JASPERS THE SELF AND ITS HAZARDS XISTENTIALISM bids fair to become asH much of a vogue among us as psycho-1 ~neoti Throanalysis was a generation or so ago.Thereis,however,one important difference betweenthem.Whereas Freud left it to others to popula-rise his ideas,the French existentialists are busyconducting their own propaganda.Perhaps thebest known among them is Jean-Paul Sartre,asvivacious as he is devastating.He combinespessimism with wit,as though sour wine hadacquired some of the qualities of champagne.Hisstarting-point is frankly atheistic.God is dead,and with him all moral standards have perished.Life is infinitely nauseating and man is only afutile passion.Yet,since without moral stan-dards we cannot live and there is no God to givethem to us,we must invent them for ourselves.The stars are quenched in heaven,so we tie alamp to the mast-head and steer by that.Ifwe do not—well,we shall just go down with allhands,and anything is better than that.Behind Sartre stands the German Heidegger, whose Sein und Zeit I,Bd.was taken generally asan exposition of a similar type of pessimism.Henow tells us that we have misunderstood him andthat when his system is complete we shall see thathe was destructive,not because he loved des-truction,but because it was necessary to clear theground in order to make room for fresh con-struction.However,it will probably be sometime before his name has been removed from thelist of those whom we may call the negativeexistentialists. For there are certain thinkers of this type whoare concerned to say something very positive.Gabriel Marcel is one of these,and he has givena specifically Christian form to existentialism,ashe has himself gone over to Catholicism.Veryclosely akin to him is Karl Jaspers.Indeed,were it not that Marcel assures us that he hadreached his conclusions before making the ac-quaintance of Jaspers,we should naturallysuppose that he was heavily indebted to him.Of the two,the German is the more original andthe more comprehensive mind,as he is moresystematic in the presentation of his philosophy. Perhaps a personal word is ca

FAQs

What themes structure the book’s exploration of Jaspers’ thought?

The book organizes its discussion around crisis in philosophy, the limits of science, selfhood, limit-situations, and transcendence.

How does the text position existentialism in relation to earlier psychological ideas?

It compares existentialism’s popularity with that of psychoanalysis and argues that the two differ in how ideas are advanced and promoted.

Why does the author emphasize Jaspers’ originality compared with related thinkers?

The text claims Jaspers is more original, more comprehensive, and more systematic in presenting his philosophy than closely akin existentialists.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by SANS