Karl Jaspers: Focusing upon Mankind's Dreams, Not Hollow Ideologies

         "Philosophy in principle recognizes all phenomena as relevant to it only insofar as they can serve as symbols of a prior actuality of transcendence. In its search, it grasps symbols as possible vestigia dei, not God himself in his secrecy. The ciphers mean something for it insofar as they point to what is hidden as the final authentic Being which they cannot unveil."

               "We live, so to speak, in a seething cauldron of possibilities, continually threatened by confusion, but always ready in spite of everything to rise up again. In philosophizing, we must always be ready, out of the present questioning, to elicit those ideas which bring forth what is real to us: that is, our humanity. These ideas are possible when the horizon remains unlimited, the realities clear, and the real questions manifest." This passage from Karl Jaspers' Reason and Existenz suggests that the philosopher's foremost concern should focus on the psychological fulfillment of mankind's hopes and dreams, not hollow ideologies containing vain promises. Only when man possesses the freedom to explore all possibilities, his goals and circumstances are clear, and he asks the proper questions can he commence his quest for meaning (Jaspers 49). Although Reason and Existenz may not be considered theological in nature, several interesting religious parallels exist. For instance, the desire for progress, power, or even ideas must not supersede the needs of man. A person must choose to form a relationship with what Jaspers calls the Infinite and Encompassing (53). This dimension closely parallels the spiritual realm of God, which is both unknowable and unattainable through human knowledge. Man's establishment of this relationship cannot be explained in scientific terms, as though "it were something in the world that appeared before us"; rather, it is a process that occurs within the inner man. In essence, man abandons his reliance upon the determinate knowledge of the external world in favor of seeking a solution in and beyond the self (54).

             Jaspers begins Reason and Existenz by examining the conflict between the rational and non-rational as they have been perceived throughout history. He cites examples from Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Parmenides, and Democritus that suggest a reliance on the non-rational. During the Christian era, this opposition later developed into a struggle between faith and reason. Jaspers then discusses the nature of the non-rational, calling it the "content of faith for religious revelation." Despite philosophy's efforts to eliminate this element, there always remains a remnant in the form of "some primordial fact, an impulse, or an accident." In its quest for truth, the will makes use "of these possibilities in knowledge to its own advantage," and ultimately a conflict emerges between these dark forces and reason. Jaspers says, "We want to subordinate ourselves to an inconceivable supersensible, which however appears in the world through human utterances and makes demands. We wish to subordinate ourselves to the natural character of impulses and passions, to the immediacy of what is now present." In contrast, man traditionally considers himself a rational being and makes every attempt to efface the unexplained, the supernatural, or the paranormal. Ironically, even the rational philosophies retain non-rational features, just as many of the non-rational arguments contain vestiges of truth (20). In view of this conflict, Jaspers suggests that both entities, in reality, serve as predisposed characteristics essential for the fulfillment of the personality. Jaspers says "Reason works a proof for the existence of God out of the factual presupposition of divinity, a proof which lacks any logically abstractable evidence indeed, but which nevertheless is fulfilling and inspiring for Existenz" (132). In Christian terms, faith and reason are both necessary for a believer to maintain a true relationship with God. This explains why neither aspect can be totally eliminated. Man needs faith to perceive God and reason to direct him.

             Jaspers also discusses at length his concept of the Encompassing, which is much like a set of all sets, limitless and unattainable through human knowledge. Like the Spirit of God which "appears and disappears" in the life of man, so does the Encompassing. It appears as Being itself, which defines man individually, and also as the Encompassing, of which man is a part (52). This definition similarly applies to the divine spirit within man. From this point, Jaspers refers to the encompassing dimensions of empirical existence and thought to suggest the limitations of each sphere. Jaspers identifies three modes of the Encompassing: empirical existence, consciousness, and spirit (54). For the believer, the Encompassing refers to the spiritual realm of God, which is impossible for man to define, describe, attain, or understand. As the Spirit moves in the lives of men, God chooses the times for its use in the souls of men. It is the Spirit of God which convicts the hearts of individuals, defines them, and gives them spiritual personalities as believers; this is the Being itself. In the same respect, the Holy Spirit enables man to realize his spiritual unity with the Father, which is the second portion of Jaspers' definition. Since human knowledge is finite, so are the lesser realms of Encompassing. Placing one's faith in a limited sphere imprisons man within that particular faculty. The contrast in subjective and universal consciousness works in the same way because the former, like feelings, could be numerous, but the latter, like the Spirit of God, is only one. Jaspers expresses this notion more aptly when he says, "There is a leap between the multiplicity of subjective consciousnesses and the universal validity of that true consciousness which can only be one" (56). As man allows himself to be used by the Spirit of God, he undergoes the process of encompassing and being encompassed. This is a reciprocal relation with God, which calls for a faith of action. Jaspers describes this process by saying, "But we participate in the Encompassing through the possibility of knowledge and through the possibility of common knowledge of Being in every form in which it appears to consciousness. And indeed, we participate, not only in the validity of the knowledge, but also in a universally recognized, formal lawfulness in willing, action, and feeling" (57).

           Spirit, the third mode of Encompassing, is characterized by the subject's apprehension of timeless meaning in his temporal life. This process of perceiving an eternal purpose in the daily life constantly repeats itself, as the subject undergoes new experiences and levels of awareness. Jaspers says, "Out of the origins of its being, spirit is the totality of intelligible thought, action, and feeling, a totality which is not a closed object for knowledge but remains Idea." As the spirit combines and restructures the different modes of Encompassing, it is evolving "toward a possible completion of empirical existence where universality, the whole, and every particular would all be members of a totality." The spirit thus orders every action of faith into the timeless truth which contributes overall to spiritually fulfilling existence (57). This process, as Jaspers notes, invariably involves a struggle within the spirit, much like the warring spirit that James and Paul describe in the New Testament. The power of the spirit, in turn, transforms both the subject and others in the external world. Jaspers expresses the reciprocal relationship to the encompassing thus: "But as spirit we are consciously related to everything which is comprehensible to us. We transform the world and ourselves into the intelligible, which encloses totalities. As objects in this mode of the Encompassing, we know ourselves from within as the one unique, all-embracing reality which is wholly spirit and only spirit" (58). The spirit, along with empirical existence, produces forms of reality, but it is in the mode of consciousness that man envisions the Encompassing of what is universally true and communicable. In other words, human consciousness enables man to perceive divine truths and to proclaim them as the message of faith (59). This stage of awareness is vital for the spiritual process, but it alone cannot fulfill the goal of the Encompassing; for not until the empirical, conscious, and spiritual modes work together harmoniously can the Encompassing refer beyond itself. In other words, not until a person yields himself completely to God can he refer beyond his personal efforts to the potential of Divine Providence. This vision of man into the divine constitutes the goal of all prayer, that man's faith enables him to see God at the end of his every human action (59). Without the vision of God as the culmination of his every deed, the believer cannot fulfill his spiritual destiny. Jaspers describes this miraculous conjunction of God and man in what he calls faith of spirit: "The faith of spirit is the life of the universal Idea, where Thought is Being ultimately is valid. The faith of Existenz, however, is the Absolute in Existenz itself on which everything for it rests, in which spirit, consciousness as such, and empirical existence are all bound together and decided, where for the first time there is both impulse and goal; here Kierkegaard's proposition, 'Faith is Being,' applies" (63).

             True faith senses the immediacy of action, and this process, in essence, defines Jaspers' concept known as Existenz. Jaspers basically describes Existenz as a type of impulse or propensity within man's Encompassing which senses the need for immediacy of action. This force, like the primitive remnants suggested by Freud, the creative energy depicted by Jung, or even the Christian imagery described by Victor White, motivates human behavior toward a certain end. According to Jaspers, "Existenz is . . . the condition of selfhood . . . which carries the meaning of every mode of the Encompassing." Without this impulse, man's Being would be useless, like the barrenness of a desert." In religious terms, God predisposes man in this way to enable him to sense the immediate need for divine intervention. Jaspers suggests that love is the compelling force within this need, and for the believer, it is this same love from God that motivates man to project his prayers beyond himself toward God (63). Here lies the miracle. From the Christian perspective, God's Spirit, the All-Encompassing, working through the total personality of man compels him to hunger and thirst for Oneness or unity with God. Jaspers refers to the respective roles of spirit and Existenz in the following passage: "Spirit in its immediacy is the potential Idea, whose universality unfolds into full clarity. Existenz in its immediacy, on the other hand, is the historicity in relation to Transcendence, i. e., the irremovable immediacy of its faith" (63). Without the Divine Presence working in a person, his total Being cannot extend beyond itself and progress toward what Jaspers calls Transcendence. In this respect, Existenz contains the spiritual imperative which man unconditionally obeys because he longs for a close relationship with his Creator (66). Existenz only finds meaning through its relation with Transcendence (61). In other words, a person can only find spiritual fulfillment, or purpose, in life through the love of God which fills and empowers him to love others. In contrast, a life without God's love becomes a spiritual wasteland. Only emptiness fills the Existenz portion of the personality, and consequently, there is no source of Transcendence. A person without God's Spirit can in no way demonstrate that love for others or manifest the immediate need for God's presence (61). Jaspers describes this tragic condition as "empty, hollowed out, without ground, fake, because everything has turned into endless masks, mere possibilities, or mere empirical existence" (63). These words, unfortunately characterize the lives of many people today who are spiritually estranged from God. These souls have lost all sense of meaning and direction. Confused, alienated, and alone, they seek sustained fulfillment through the deceptive temporal values of the material world.

            Jaspers also discusses the concept of Reason and its role with Existenz and Transcendence. According to Jaspers, "Reason of itself is no source; but as it is an encompassing bond, it is like a source in which all sources first come to light. It is the unrest which permits acquiescence in nothing; it forces a break with the immediacy of the unconscious in every mode of the encompassing which we are. It pushes on continually. But it is also that which can effect the great peace, not the peace of a self-confident rational whole, but that of Being itself opened up to us through reason" (65). In other words, reason is the impulse that makes the purpose of Existenz clear, the function that shows the need for reason or order. Reason must interact with the content of Existenz; otherwise, the spiritual potential within a person becomes "inactive, sleeping, and as though not there" (68). In simple terms, the reasoning faculty creates an order out of the event in a subject's life by providing direction and a subsequent sense of fulfillment. This faculty is constantly changing because the events in one's life are also constantly in a state of flux. A good analogy can be taken from a listener's interpretation of jazz or modern art. In essence, the mind imposes a form of order upon seemingly chaotic notes or impressions that create a holistic unity. In this way, reason unites all elements of the encompassing (64). Because of the ever-changing nature of reason, it is always passing beyond every limit and expressing "perpetual dissatisfaction"; nevertheless, even if or when the ordering process fails, reason still remains in the Existenz manifesting the potential of being reborn in new circumstances. Thus, it is reason that provides the parameters for spiritual growth. Jaspers emphasizes that reason and Existenz work together "to mutually develop one another," but never combine" (68). He characterizes this unique relationship between God and man as a form of movement or tension. According to Jaspers, "There is rest nowhere in temporal existence. Rather there is always movement issuing forth from the ultimate substantial ground, movement in the tension between the unquestionable immediacy of existential faith and the infinite movement of reason" (69). In religious terms, the Divine Spirit in man enables the believer to experience God's Presence and sense the immediate need for Him in all aspects of life. This is faith or transcendence. God, responding through Reason, provides the direction or fulfillment as the result of the immediate need. In essence, Existenz holds the content of man's faith, and reason serves as the ordering principle which governs its form (67).

             Jaspers' idea of concepts working together closely parallels Martin Buber's notion of relations. Jaspers suggests an interrelationship of faith and reason, when he says that Existenz and reason "exist only through the other" and that they "mutually develop one another and find through one another, clarity and reality" (68). Jaspers also observes that the community of man, unlike the animals, does not exist in a state of immediacy, but is "mediated through a relation to common conscious purposes in the world, through a relation to truth, and through relation to God" (78). For Martin Buber, the key to spiritual growth lies in what he calls "relations," as he suggests in his title I AND THOU. Relations, according to Buber, exist in three spheres: nature, man, and spirit. The relation is vital because relationships necessitate a choice, be it God or the world. Relations require a mutual affirmation, which is equally essential. To sustain the relationship, a choice is imperative (Buber). In a lecture entitled "Truth as Communicability," Jaspers also says people 'are what they are only through the community of mutually conscious understandings" and that "there can be no man who is a man for himself alone, as a mere individual" (77). Here the notion of relations is obvious as well. Jaspers stresses that "human communication is continually moving in its relation to these potential contents." He maintains that human communities, unlike those of animals, are unique because of "their potentiality for an incalculable continuity in unfolding and gathering together out of the past and present." Jaspers holds that "through this movement, it is continually insecure and endangered reality which must always re-establish itself, limit, and expand itself, test itself, and push on." The true being, however, "does not possess the final state, but rather is directed toward it" because it "exists in the tension of detours, errors, somersaults, and recoveries." Here again, the concept of movement in human communication denotes change and growth. Jaspers suggests that communication is "the universal condition of man's being and that truth manifests itself through this medium (79). Maintaining one's focus on the Infinite poses a problem for both Jaspers and Buber. For instance, when, during the act of prayer or communication with the Infinite, man begins to think about what he is doing instead of concentrating on the object or goal itself, he loses the transcending experience because the circumstance joins the world of his objective past or memory (Buber 17). A relation with God or the Infinite can only be maintained through total surrender of the self, and any focus upon past occurrences, or the self's awareness of them, becomes a part of the world of pride or vanity, not the Spirit of God. According to Jaspers, "The individual before his Transcendence, in which position alone man is man, struggles against the evaporation of his own fundamental ground into something universal, but also against his own loss of himself through defiant self-assertion and the anxieties of his empirical singularity" (142). This surrender to the Infinite can only be served in the present (Jaspers 106). Active faith must be in the now. Once the mind is distracted, the divine relation is severed, and once man attempts to describe the experience, even the words are incapable of expression. This is another miracle of God's glory, that His power and majesty transcends human comprehension, or even articulation! The concept of movement also plays an important role in God's Spirit working through man. When Jesus saw the multitudes, he was "moved with compassion on them because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). When Mary visited Elizabeth, as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out with a loud voice, "Of all women you are the blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my Lord'?" (Luke 1:39-45). These passages also suggest a "filling with God's Spirit" that overwhelms the person with compassion for God and his fellow man. This form of compassion constitutes what Jaspers suggests man should feel over the