Philosophy of Existence

1. Philosophy's True Purpose: Beyond Science and Dogma

Philosophy demands a different thinking, a thinking that, in knowing, reminds me, awakens me, brings me to myself, transforms me.

Beyond academic study. For too long, philosophy was treated as just another academic discipline, a "science among others," offering vast surveys of history and doctrines but lacking real-world impact. This approach, often seeking to imitate the exactness of empirical sciences, became "too innocuous, too easily satisfied, too blind to reality," leading to deep disillusionment among those seeking a life-grounding philosophy. It produced "empty abstractions" and "proofs that proved nothing," failing to address the fundamental human quest for genuine existence.

Science's limits. While acknowledging the indispensable role of science in providing factual knowledge and methodological rigor, Jaspers argues that science alone cannot provide life's goals, establish valid values, or answer questions about its own meaning. When science over-asserts its findings as absolute knowledge or becomes dogmatic, it devolves into "bad philosophy." True philosophy must recognize these limits, using scientific clarity to highlight our lack of knowledge about "being itself," and pointing to other sources of meaning.

Authentic philosophizing. The path back to authentic philosophy involves recognizing its origin as distinct from science. It's not about accumulating objective knowledge but about an "inner action" that transforms the thinker, awakening them to their true self and reality. This process, while learning from historical traditions, must always be original, expressing itself under new conditions, and consciously transcending mere objective understanding to grasp reality at its source.

2. The Encompassing: Reality Beyond All Objects

No known being is being itself.

The ultimate horizon. Everything we perceive or conceive as an object is merely a "determinate being among others," a mode of being, never "being itself." We constantly operate within a "horizon of our knowledge," striving to expand it, but we can never reach a point where the limiting horizon disappears, allowing us to survey the whole of reality. This elusive, ever-present background, which is the source from which all new horizons emerge without ever becoming an object itself, is what Jaspers calls "the encompassing."

Paradox of thought. The very act of thinking about the encompassing forces us to make it an object, creating a paradox. If we try to grasp it with determinate concepts, we risk reducing it to just another mode of being. However, philosophical thought aims to transcend this limitation, allowing for an "increasing lucidity of a sense of being totally different from all determinate knowledge." This dynamic movement of thought reveals the encompassing as that which permeates all objects, making them transparent to a deeper reality.

Modes of the encompassing. Jaspers articulates the encompassing into various modes to clarify our awareness of being. These include:

• The World: The encompassing in which being itself appears, but never as a whole object.
• Consciousness-in-general: The encompassing that we are, conditioning all objects of our knowledge.
• Existence (Dasein): Our practical, organic being in the world, with its needs, struggles, and finitude.
• Spirit: The realm of concrete universals and ideas, binding men into historical totalities like nations or cultures.
• Existenz: The transcendent mode of subjectivity, our unique, authentic self, a principle of freedom and creativity.
• Transcendence: The transcendent mode of objectivity, being itself beyond all objective determination, the ultimate source of Existenz.

3. The Multiplicity of Truth: From Pragmatic to Existential

Truth that is vitally important to us begins precisely where the cogency of “consciousness in general” ends.

Beyond universal correctness. While "consciousness-in-general" provides compelling, universally valid correctness in the sciences, this is not the sole or absolute form of truth. Jaspers argues that truth emerges from all modes of the encompassing, each with its own distinct meaning and criteria. This pluralistic view acknowledges that what is true for one aspect of our being may not be true for another, leading to a rich, yet often conflicting, landscape of truth.

Diverse forms of truth:

• Truth of existence (Dasein): This is pragmatic truth, defined by what "works" to preserve and extend life, leading to satisfaction. It is relative, changing, and focused on immediate usefulness and adequacy of expression.
• Truth of spirit: This truth is conviction, found in belonging to self-contained wholes and ideas that produce coherence and meaning. It is grasped through participation in concrete, historical totalities.
• Truth of Existenz: This is the deepest truth, experienced in faith, where one breaks out of all worldly immanence. It is unique, unconditional, and rests on itself, proving itself as an "authentic consciousness of reality" that cannot be fully known or imaged.

Conflicts and the One Truth. These different modes of truth are not an unrelated aggregate; they are often in conflict, with each capable of becoming "untruth" if it violates its own integrity or is distorted by another. For instance, scientific truth can threaten one's existence, or practical interests can corrupt objective knowledge. The search for "the one truth" is an incessant striving, not a harmonious, conceivable whole, but an ideal that permeates all modes, binding them together in a unity that is always sought but never definitively possessed in a fixed form.

4. Existenz and Transcendence: The Core of Authentic Being

Existenz is the self-being that relates to itself and thereby also to transcendence from which it knows that it has been given to itself and upon which it is grounded.

The unique self. Existenz is a technical term in Jaspers' philosophy, referring to the absolutely unique, individual human being in their concrete, historical authenticity. It is not merely "existence" (Dasein), which is our empirical, organic being, but the ultimate source or ground of each individual self. Existenz is a principle of freedom, creativity, and pure spontaneity, never fully actualized, always remaining a limitless field of possibility. It is man as Existenz who continually breaks established patterns to create new forms of knowledge, organization, and ideas.

Beyond objective description. Unlike the immanent modes of the encompassing (existence, consciousness-in-general, spirit), Existenz cannot be described in general terms or reduced to an object. It is a possibility in all men, appealed to rather than known objectively. Man as Existenz completely transcends all that he is, knows, or does, remaining an "origin" (Ursprung). Its manifestations occur within the immanent modes, but Existenz itself remains the primordial, spontaneous depth of the self, which must be actualized by each person.

Grounding in transcendence. Corresponding to Existenz is Transcendence, which represents "being itself beyond all objectivity." Transcendence is the ultimate source of Existenz; without it, man would be merely a mundane being, describable only in objective terms. Existenz is aware of itself as "given to itself by transcendence," implying a profound, non-objective relationship. Everything in the world can become a "cipher" or symbol of Transcendence, perceived from the viewpoint of Existenz and its freedom, pointing to a reality that transcends all finite interpretation.

5. The Leap to Transcendence: The Decisive Act of Freedom

This leap is decisive for my freedom. For freedom exists only with and by transcendence.

Breaking immanent bounds. The most profound philosophical decision is whether to reject or embrace the "leap" from the totality of immanence (existence, consciousness-in-general, spirit, and the world) to transcendence. Immanence, though comprising "indubitable actuality," is ultimately self-insufficient, pointing beyond itself. This leap signifies a move from everything that can be experienced in time and known timelessly (and thus remains mere appearance) to "real and eternal being itself," which is not knowable in temporal existence but comes to expression within it.

Freedom's origin. This leap is not merely an intellectual exercise but a fundamental act of self-determination, crucial for freedom. While a relative freedom exists within immanence (e.g., remaining open to the encompassing of existence and spirit), positive freedom arises only for the Existenz that makes this leap. If one rescinds the leap and slides back into immanence, accepting a "universal, necessary and knowable totality of events," freedom is obliterated. The freedom of Existenz is an "identity with the origin on which thought founders," lost if one betrays oneself by disregarding possible Existenz and transcendence.

The will-to-being. Philosophizing in the modes of the encompassing requires a "resolution of the will-to-being." This means detaching oneself from all determinate knowledge of being, after fully appreciating its scope, so that "being itself may truly come to me." It's a commitment to perceive the "flashing signals" of being in an "open, horizonless realm," to become aware that the sole basis of possible Existenz is the transcendence that supports it. This inner action allows one to become oneself as an "historic phenomenon" within the encompassing that remains open, rather than seeking a deceptive foothold in a fixed doctrine of being.

6. Exception and Authority: Truth in Historic Actuality

The exception, by its actuality, destroys permanent and universally valid truth. And authority, by its actuality, fetters every particular truth claiming absolute autonomy.

Beyond fixed universality. Jaspers introduces "exception" and "authority" as extreme forms of truth that emerge from the "tortuous route" back to reality, especially when measured against cogently valid rational knowledge. They highlight that "the one truth and the one human nature do not exist" in a universally knowable, single form. Instead, truth for humans is historic, temporal, and continually threatened, making these phenomena crucial pointers to the ground of truth.

The nature of the exception:

• Breaks universality: An exception breaks out of universal existence (ethos, laws, normalcy), universal thought (consciousness-in-general), and spirit (membership in a whole).
• Ambiguous fate: The exception wills the universal it is not, often subordinating itself to it, yet is compelled to go against it, even losing the world in service of transcendence.
• Illuminates universal: It is "like a lighthouse alongside the road, illuminating the universal from the situation of the non-universal," without being a model for others.
• Ever-present possibility: Exceptionality is not just a rare occurrence (like Socrates) but an "ever-present possibility for every Existenz," inherent in historicity.

The nature of authority:

• Historic unity of truth: Authority is the "unity of truth that binds all modes of the encompassing into one and appears to us in historic form as universal and whole." It's a union of power, certainty, idea, and Existenz's relation to transcendence.
• Internal and external: It comes as an external command but also "speaks from within," based on a claim from transcendence.
• Dynamic tension: Because it is historic, authority is in constant tension between desiring eternal stabilization and needing to break out to create itself anew.
• Liberation within authority: Individuals mature through authority, appropriating its content, and then may resist it to actualize their own origin, achieving a freedom that is a "necessity of the truth that he has seized himself."

Polarity and transcendence. Exception and authority, though seemingly opposed, belong together as "pointers to the ground of truth." They are grounded in transcendence, incomplete, historic, and elude objective knowledge. They reveal a momentary "fusion within the One" where conflicts among the modes of the encompassing are resolved, not by violence, but through transcendence speaking as the One, allowing for new breakthroughs.

7. Reason: The Unifying Will to Communication

The basic characteristic of reason is the will to unity.

Beyond understanding. Jaspers distinguishes reason from the understanding, which seeks security in fixed, objective knowledge and partial unities. Reason, by contrast, is the "total will to unity," seeking the One that contains all truth, not just any unity for its own sake. It operates as an "attracting force overcoming all divisions," bringing everything back from dispersion and alienation into dynamic interrelatedness, ensuring "nothing is to be lost."

An unlimited openness. Reason is not a source of content in its own right but acts as an "atmosphere" or motive within Existenz, making other origins perceivable. It elucidates the modes of the encompassing, prevents their isolation, and presses towards their union. It turns towards what is alien—exception and authority—but does not rest in them, recognizing them as provisional. Reason's pursuit of unity is characterized by:

• Honesty: Unlimited openness and availability for questioning, contrasting with fanaticism.
• Justice: Allowing every originary thing to count as itself, even while acknowledging its limits.
• Communication: An incessant drive to express, understand, and relate everything that exists.

The disclosing motion. Reason continually overthrows what the understanding has acquired, never stopping or ending. It quickens the negative power of abstraction, even entertaining the thought of "nothingness" to make us authentically experience being as a given. This "disclosing motion" and "ultimate calm" of reason is not about possessing knowledge but about surpassing and binding together. It is the condition of every other truth, preserving the meaning of intellectual acquisitions by giving up every fixation of the understanding.

8. Reality Beyond Possibility, as Historicity, and as Unity

Reality is that which can no longer be translated into possibility.

Reality's elusive nature. Jaspers explores reality through three examples of "transcending thought," demonstrating that ultimate reality cannot be grasped through ordinary cognition or efficacious action. As we gain determinate knowledge, reality seems to recede, becoming an "unattainable limit of methodical research." Our existence, too, proves unsatisfying, and even our authentic self (Existenz) is not "ultimate" reality, as it is "given to ourselves."

Three facets of authentic reality:

• Reality beyond possibility: Any known actuality is a "realized possibility" and retains the character of possibility in thought. Authentic reality, however, is that which "resists all thought," striking down what comes from it. It is the "unthinkable, preconceptual, primordial reality" that is prior to thought, making thought rebound from it. This experience, when not misunderstood as brutal facticity, leads to peace and wonder before eternal being.
• Reality as historicity: Eternal reality is not timelessly subsisting or permanent, but present as "transition," acquiring existence in the "imminence of departing." Man is real only as "historic," situated between nothing and everything, continually in flux. This means penetrating to the origin by becoming one with the "temporally concrete appearance of the reality in which I stand," fulfilling the moment and raising the present into an eternal present.
• Reality as unity: Our knowledge reveals discontinuities (e.g., between inorganic nature, life, consciousness, spirit), and human efforts to create lasting unity in the world always fail. Yet, reason incessantly strives for "the one, unifying and self-sustaining arrangement." This true unity is not an objective, immanent form but exists "only in transcendence," apprehended in the world from that standpoint.

The foundering of thought. In each example, philosophical thought uses categories to go beyond them, making reality present indirectly through the "blow of thought rebounding from reality." This process intensifies the "inconceivability of authentic reality," making its force palpable. Reality is not self-evident; it is an "ungrounded necessity" perceived through "believing perception, believing experience," a transformation that occurs when attending to the "ciphers of being."

9. Philosophical Faith: Sustaining Reality in a World of Appearances

Philosophical faith is the substance of a personal life; it is the reality of man philosophizing in his own historic ground, in which he receives himself as a gift.

Beyond religious certainty. While religion offers a reality "guaranteed by authority" and apprehended in myth and revelation, philosophy cannot produce such myth or revelation. Philosophical faith is distinct; it is the "substance of a personal life," the reality of the individual philosophizing in their unique historical ground, receiving themselves as a gift. It experiences transcendence "unmediated, as that which I myself am not," and is not contained in any institution, though it may be possible in all.

The nature of philosophical faith:

• Undogmatic: It is amenable to no confession of faith, as thought is merely the "passage out of the dark origin into reality," not a fixed doctrine.
• Communicative: It speaks and lives in the "communication of the philosophical spirit realm," in the "transforming, understanding conversation between thinkers," forming the "one perennial philosophy" that binds men despite differences.
• World-bound: It is "bound to the world as the condition of all being for it," demanding that one live and work in the world, perceiving the "ever-ambiguous language of transcendence" within it.
• Historicity as realization: It demands historicity as the "sole mode of realization," intensifying the present by "undiminishing and active fulfillment under the standard of transcendence."

Confronting religion. From a philosophical standpoint, religion often transforms transcendence into a "sensible and particular object in the world," absolutizing one historicity or one visible unity (e.g., the Church). Philosophy, while recognizing religion as "true in a way we do not understand," maintains its "essentially alien character." It engages in a "never-ending conflict" with religious claims that universalize their historic objectivity, but it also affirms ecclesiastical religion as a "substantial tradition" to which philosophy itself is bound.

10. Philosophy's Enduring Task: Awakening to Reality

Philosophy speaks only where knowledge and technique fail. It points, but does not give. It moves with illuminating beams of light, but produces nothing.

The limits of giving. Philosophy does not produce reality or provide ready-made answers or "technical recipes." Its role is to heighten clarity and reliable continuity in what the thinker already brings and can be, rather than to bestow something entirely new. It operates in the realm where objective knowledge and practical techniques reach their limits, pointing the way to reality through truth, and apprehending being that is always present yet never generally manifest.

A continuous awakening. The task of philosophizing is to "open us up" to the breadth and depth of the encompassing, to foster daring communication in all senses of truth, and to preserve reason's alertness even in the face of the most foreign. It is a process of "awakening the memory" through which we return to our ground, realizing that man's essence is not a fixed ideal but an "unlimited task" of penetrating to the origin. This process is a constant breaking out of illusion, leading to a new, authentic, and supporting experience of the real.

The perennial quest. Philosophy, throughout millennia, is a "great hymn to reason," continually misunderstanding itself as finished knowledge, yet always striving to overcome its own limitations. It is a "mysticism for the understanding," developing all possibilities of understanding to make reason communicable. In the face of accusations that it is ruinous or disintegrative, philosophy asserts its role in preserving the meaning of intellectual acquisitions, fostering radical openness, and enabling individuals to become themselves in their unique historic ground, sustained by philosophical faith.

Last updated: October 26, 2025