Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus: From The Great Philosophers, Volume I [Paperback]

Karl Jaspers (Author)

Book Description

Series: Jaspers, Karl//Great Philosophers | Publication Date: March 23, 1966

A part of Jaspers’s planned universal history of philosophy, focusing on the four paradigmatic individuals who have exerted a historical influence of incomparable scope and depth. Edited by Hannah Arendt; Index. Translated by Ralph Manheim.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Arguably the four most influential individuals in human history, Socrates, the Buddha, Confucius and Jesus have cast shadows on history that are nearly inescapable even today. Who were they, what were their doctrines, and what was their influence? These are some of the questions that the 20th-century philosopher Karl Jaspers explores in this short excerpt from his larger volume, Great Philosophers.

Review

Arguably the four most influential individuals in human history, Socrates, the Buddha, Confucius and Jesus have cast shadows on history that are nearly inescapable even today. Who were they, what were their doctrines, and what was their influence? These are some of the questions that the 20th-century philosopher Karl Jaspers explores in this short excerpt from his larger volume, Great Philosophers. (Amazon.com Review )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (March 23, 1966)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156835800
• ISBN-13: 978-0156835800
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Made a big impression on me!, January 8, 2002

By 

From_Plano_TX "a_customer_from_plano" (Plano, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus: From The Great Philosophers, Volume I (Paperback)

Aside from being an intelligently written book, I gave this book 5 stars because it made a big impression on me. Jaspers explanation of Confucius made the strength of Confucious's teaching clear. Now I'm very interested in Confucious and am reading more books about him. In that respect, this slim volume changed my life: It brought Confucious to life. What's more, by explaining Confucius's feelings about Taoism, this slim book did more to explain classic Taoism than the 2 books on the Tao I've already read.

Be aware that this book is due to the editing of Hannah Arendt. This means that Jaspers did not put this book out and say "Ta Da, the 4 Greatest!" No, Jaspers wrote a 2 volume book on the great philosophers due to his post War interest in increasing tolerance among men (per the Encyclopedia Britanica). This book does not appear to have any noticable Existentialist influence.

Finally, if you are a fundamentalist Christian, be warned that it is clear from his writing that Jaspers does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God, nor does he believe the Bible is free of error. He is not disrespectful of Jesus nor of Christianity, but do not think that because Jesus is in this book that the book is strongly pro-Jesus.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to world-historical figures of interest, January 19, 2008

By 

Greg (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus: From The Great Philosophers, Volume I (Paperback)

Karl Jaspers was a somewhat unusual and enigmatic thinker. While being an excellent philosopher, he strongly distanced himself from the dominant philosophical schools of his time, both the continental and the analytical and positivist movements which dominated academic discourse. This was somewhat unfortunate and relegated Jaspers to being a lonely and marginalised figure, yet Jaspers published many works which are of enduring interest.

Of these are his four volumes on the history of philosopy and studies of great philosophers. In this volume Jaspers looks at Jesus, the Buddha, Socrates and Confucius as 'paradigmatic' figures who unleashed new visions which changed the world forever. Jaspers also adopts a somewhat unusual hermeneutical approach to these philosophers, taking the facts of scientific history not as starting points which constrain what can be said about these philsophers, but assessing their thought instead from Jasper's own existentialist framework. It is hard sometimes not to see Jaspers reading his own philosophy and philosophical viewpoint into that of these past philosophers, an approach closer to that of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard than that favoured by modern historians of philosophy.

Even so, Jasper's analysis of these philosopher-sages is fascinating and repays careful study.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Written, October 13, 2000

By 

Jason D. Cavender (San Diego, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus: From The Great Philosophers, Volume I (Paperback)

This book is a joy to read. Jaspers has a real talent for breaking down complex thoughts into detailed, easy to read format. Jaspers presents a broad overview that should be attractive to newcomers. More advanced readers will appreciate his style and his refreshing perspective.