encompassing,an essentially religious concept, intended to suggest the all-embracing transcendent reality within which human existence is enclosed. Although this idea is not in the realm of scientific thought, it is not an irrational concept, since Jaspers believed that the study of science is a necessary preparatory stage to grasping the
encompassing.Thus, while maintaining the value of science, Jaspers was profoundly aware of its limitations and believed that abstract sociological and psychological theories cause the individual to lose sight of his freedom and concrete situation. His works include Psychologie der Weltanschauungen (1919), Die geistige Situation der Zeit (1931; tr. Man in the Modern Age, 1933), Reason and Existenz (1935, tr. 1956), Existenzphilosophie (1938), The Question of German Guilt (tr. 1947), and Philosophie und Welt (1958).
See C. F. Wallraff, Karl Jaspers: An Introduction to His Philosophy (1970); O. O. Schrag, Existence, Existenz, and Transcendence: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Karl Jaspers (1971); L. H. Ehrlich, Karl Jaspers: Philosophy as Faith (1975); E. Young-Bruehl, Freedom and Karl Jaspers' Philosophy (1981); L. Kohler and H. Saner, ed., Hannah Arendt—Karl Jaspers: Correspondence, 1926–1969 (tr. by Robert and Rita Kimber, 1992).
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