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Taken from the Great Philosphers, Volume II.
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Customer Reviews (1)

Through a Different Lens
This book is a good start if you wish to learn about Spinoza. The fact that it is written by a renowned philosopher certainly adds to its charm. The book is part of a series by the author about individuals he considers to be the great philosophers. His choices are generally good ones.

Jaspers tells you most of what you need to know about Spinoza in a sophisticated but easily comprehensible manner. The only problem with the book is that it is now somewhat old and does not take into account recent work on the subject. There has been a great amount of recent scholarship concerning Spinoza's life and philosophy. In addition, there have been several high-level popular treatments. Steven Nadler and Steven B. Smith have written works which have significantly broadened the field.

The foregoing should not discourage readers from looking into this book. It is a good and useful one, especially if Spinoza is not the reader's principal interest. Nevertheless, if the reader is primarily interested in Spinoza and in the most up-to-date scholarship, he or she should look elsewhere. ... Read more

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Nietzsche claimed to be a philosopher of the future, but he was appropriated as a philosopher of Nazism. His work inspired a long study by Martin Heidegger and essays by a host of lesser disciples attached to the Third Reich. In 1935, however, Karl Jaspers set out to "marshall against the National Socialists the world of thought of the man they had proclaimed as their own philosopher." The year after publishing Nietzsche, Jaspers was discharged from his professorship at Heidelberg University by order of the Nazi leadership.

Jaspers does not fall into the same trap as idealogues do, citing bits and pieces from Nietzsche's work to reinforce already held opinions. Instead, he openly shows the wide range of Nietzsche's views, including his endorsement of wars and warriors, his prophecies of world struggle and "new masters," and the cruel arrogance of the supermen. Yet Jaspers finds Nietzsche's philosophy to be extraordinary not only because he foresaw all the monstrosities of the twentieth century, but also because he saw through them.

"The appearance which Nietzsche's work presents can be expressed figuratively: it is as though a mountain wall had been dynamited; the rock, already more or less shaped, conveys the idea of a whole. But the building for the sake of which the dynamiting seems to have been done has not been erected. However, the fact that the work lies about like a heap of ruins does not appear to conceal its spirit from the one who happens to have found the key to the possibilities of construction; for him, many fragments fit together. But not unambiguously; many functionally suitable pieces are present in numerous, only slightly varied repetitions, others reveal themselves as precious and unique forms, as though each were meant to furnish a cornerstone somewhere or a keystone for an arch." -- Karl Jaspers, from the introduction

Customer Reviews (3)

Good introduction for the philosophically initiated
This book on Nietzsche is interesting as a secondary source in that Jaspers was a serious philosopher and not just a scholar.So, his writing is an attempt to come to grips with the meaning of Nietzsche's corpus philosophically and existentially rather than just exegesis.It has a rhythm and pace that is unique and original.But, one has also to consider that Jaspers wrote this book before the world really understood what Nietzsche was trying to do.So, you might not get straight answers here but the journey is worthwhile.

Keep this Depth in Sight
Consider Karl Jaspers a master of multiplicity, whose understanding of Nietzsche's thought is like the complexity of a physiologist's understanding of the peristaltic activity involved in swallowing anything. For Jaspers, an interest in Nietzsche is mainly meaningful if it isaccompanied by a wish for intellectual growth (this may be a valid careergoal for those who are lucky enough to pursue this kind of thingprofessionally).At least, such a view of Jaspers could be supported bywhat he wrote on the topic, "Ways of Criticizing Nietzsche" inthis book.Anyone who does not accept and assume the full multiplicity ofthe topic being considered falls into the error described on page 420. "He is bound to consider as fixed and final formulae what to Nietzschewere only steps and to pervert these formulae by turning them into jargon,demogogic means of persuasion, or sensationalistic journalese."Theworld which offered Nietzsche such foolish models for demonstrating therecklessness of typical thinking does not receive due consideration here,this being a book on a lonely thinker.The self of Nietzsche can onlyemerge for readers who are able "to keep this depth in sight"while overcoming "the rationally onesided formulations of theunderstanding which he himself recognized in his own thinking but failed tocheck."Such a view of Nietzsche springs from the desire of those whoneed to consider themselves fully educated, but sensible.The kind ofthought-check which is being suggested by Jaspers is supposed to thwart thekind of racing thoughts which are not productive.Don't forget that KarlJaspers was also a doctor, an expert on General Psychopathology, a field inwhich facts are not as important as the emotional experiences of the kindof person who becomes the subject of such studies.In the field ofphilosophy, where Nietzsche's desire to learn the truth about thelimitations which always prevent the full realization of this desire fortruth, thereby setting a new standard for intellectual integrity, Jaspersfelt that Nietzsche's sense of "knowing full well where to findexactly what I have to learn" (p. 421) when it came to matters fullycovered by books "was of little consequence for his trulyphilosophical thinking."(p. 421)I must be over-simplifying this ~this is only a review, and Jaspers's sympathy with Nietzsche's awareness ofthe limitations placed on his knowledge by the fact that "he wasforced to content himself with the reading of books" (p. 421) must betrue as well for people who are only reading reviews.

A wonderful translation of a historically significant work
This wonderful introduction to Nietsche by Karl Jaspers was written in 1936 after Jaspers had been disgraced by the Nazis and forced out of his professorship.He had taken refuge in Bern.This work is his offering to help us see that Nietsche was critically important to 20th centruy philosophy, and was not the pop-philosopher the Nazis tried to make him out to be.Jasper's work is the first real undertaking to show Nietsche as he was, and to appreciate him for what he was and is. ... Read more

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Analyzes and critiques Karl Jaspers' philosophy on the atom bomb and its relation to the future of humanity. This work studies the human transformations called for by Jaspers in science, politics, and religion, and develops the limits and possibilities of Jaspers' ideas from the perspective of present nuclear capabilities, contemporary moral discourse, and Christian faith. ... Read more

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Taken from the Great Philosphers, Volume II.
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This book sets out a new reading of the much-neglected philosophy of Karl Jaspers. By questioning the common perception of Jaspers either as a proponent of irrationalist cultural philosophy or as an early, peripheral disciple of Martin Heidegger, it re-establishes him as a central figure in modern European philosophy.

Giving particular consideration to his position in epistemological, metaphysical and political debate, the author argues that Jaspers's work deserves renewed consideration in a number of important discussions, particularly in hermeneutics, anthropological reflections on religion, the critique of idealism, and debates on the end of metaphysics. ... Read more

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This award-winning book investigates the critique of psychoanalysis formulated by the psychiatrist and philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) over some five decades, systematically examining Jasper’s arguments against Freud and his followers. The book traces the medico-historical roots of Jasper’s criticism of psychoanalysis and places it within the framework of scientific theory before devoting itself extensively to medico-ethical aspects of the controversy, which are ultimately treated in terms of a history of mentalities.