Karl Jaspers as Philosophical Practical Mystic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18533/kqpm5a49Keywords:
Karl Jaspers, existential philosophy, practical mysticism, Evelyn UnderhillAbstract
While Karl Jaspers, M.D. (1883-1969) is well-known as a pioneering psychopathologist and prominent existential philosopher, he is rarely recognized as a philosophical mystic, nor did he claim such a title. It is the thesis of this paper that more than a half-century after his passing, it is finally time to also recognize Jaspers’ role explicitly as what Underhill termed the “practical mystic,” though in Jaspers’ case it would seem more fitting to propose the title of “philosophical practical mystic.” An attempt is made to support this claim, and to suggest why Jaspers might have been reluctant to embrace such designation during his academic career, especially in light of his lack of a Ph.D. in philosophy; his attempt to survive with his Jewish wife under the Nazi regime in Germany; and his core values of existential in-the-worldness, ongoing active human dialogue, and personal freedom from ecclesiastical religious doctrines, artifacts, and institutions.
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