Karl Jaspers Philsophical Writing [Paperback]

Edith Ehrlich (Introduction), Leonard H. Ehrlich (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1994

Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) is one of the most original and seminal thinkers of the twentieth century. Rich in ideas, vast in scope, far-ranging and complex, his work is distributed over a large corpus of writing. In fact, it is just the very size and the range of his thought that have tended to make Jaspers inaccessible. The editors of this volume set out to provide a guided introduction to Jaspers through a systematic organisation of selections from the whole body of his writing. The volume aims to convey an accurate presentation of the content and movement of Jaspers' philosophising and to provide insights into the wide range of his philosophical achievements. The editors provide comments and information on each of the seventy-four selections to help set each piece within the context of the whole of Jaspers' work. This is an invaluable introduction to Karl Jaspers' work for the student and the critical reader.

Product Details

• Paperback: 557 pages
• Publisher: Humanities Press (August 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573925292
• ISBN-13: 978-1573925297
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,250,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best introduction to Jaspers, June 30, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Karl Jaspers Philsophical Writing (Paperback)

I've read a _lot_ of (and about) Jaspers, but this book has proven the most effective resource for my Jaspers studies.

Ehrlich, Ehrlich, and Pepper selected excerpts from throughout Jaspers' career in philosophy (not a lot from his psychology, as the title indicates). They then grouped these texts together in logical and cohesive sections, adding short introductions to each section as well as each individual text. The result: it is possible to sit down and read the collection cover-to-cover and feel the continuity of the work.

E, E, and P have gotten over a major hurdle in making Jaspers' work accessible. Many of the available translations of Jaspers are sub-par. Jaspers' frequent coinage and usage of technical jargon has posed a translation problem (i.e. words that no one knows exactly how to translate) that has resulted in discrepancies between translations. E, E, and P resolve this (to a large degree) by retranslating or correcting many of the passages in this book. Since I happened to have both a German and an English (trans. E. B. Ashton) copy of Jaspers' 3 volume work "Philosophie" -- a text quoted often in this volume -- I compared translations. E, E, and P's revisions to E. B. Ashton's translation were consistently more readible.

In addition to providing a fantastic overview of Jaspers, this volume does have a couple of other highlights:
* Many passages translated from Von Der Wahrheit -- Jaspers' last major work (which remains largely untranslated).

* Great coverage of some of his writings on religion (Buddhism, Christian mysticism, etc.)
* Selected entries from his journals.
* Correspondence with other philosophers (notably Arendt and Heidegger).

In short, I highly recommend this book for those looking for a good Jaspers reader. If you are new to Jaspers, I would also suggest reading Philosophy of Existenz -- a great (and short) overview of Jaspers' project.

6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fine collection of essential writings...., May 27, 2000

By 

Craig Chalquist, PhD, author of TERRAPSYCHOLO... (Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Karl Jaspers Philsophical Writing (Paperback)

....Jaspers is difficult reading in places but has a plenitude of existentially worthwhile ideas: historicity, Existenz, the Encompassing... worth the trouble.

1 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A former Heideggerian asseses Jaspers, August 17, 2008

By 

C. M. Ellis (Real Town USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Karl Jaspers Philsophical Writing (Paperback)

Jaspers embodies the German propensity for breadth and thoroughness to an exhausting degree, without any real depth. Basically, Jaspers is a methodologist, and sees three main ways, or methods, of living: one is plain being there, then there is the pseudo-objectivity of pure consciousness, and lastly there is animation by an idea. Only in the extremities of life do we ever Exist. It's not a bad book, per se, but compared to his General Psychopathology it is formulaic and shallow. Not that I would recommend Heidegger to anyone for any reason, but Jaspers couldn't understand Heidegger and couldn't read him either. Your call.