Full Description
This collection of articles by an international group of leading experts has its special focus on the relevance of Karl Jaspers's philosophy for the social sciences. It also includes classical evaluations of Jaspers's thinking by renowned authors Talcott Parsons and Jürgen Habermas. Several chapters are devoted to the relationship between Jaspers and his teacher (Max Weber), his famous student (Hannah Arendt) and crucial figures in his intellectual world (Wilhelm Dilthey, Georg Simmel). Others deal with his relevance for disciplines from psychiatry to the study of religion and the historico-sociological research about the Axial Age, a term coined by Jaspers. In his introduction, editor Hans Joas tries to systematise Jaspers's relevance for the contemporary social sciences and to explain why Parsons had called him a 'social scientist's philosopher'.
The book promises to become an indispensable source in the re-evaluation of Jaspers's thinking in the years to come.
Contents
Acknowledgments; List of Contributors; Introduction Karl Jaspers—A "Social Scientist's Philosopher" - Hans Joas; Chapter 1 Karl Jaspers- Talcott Parsons; Chapter 2 Karl Jaspers and Max Weber- Austin Harrington; Chapter 3 The Limits of Historicism: Karl Jaspers, Wilhelm Dilthey and Georg Simmel- Christopher Thornhill; Chapter 4 Karl Jaspers as Psychiatrist- Thomas Fuchs; Chapter 5 Karl Jaspers and His Criticism of Psychoanalysis- Matthias Bormuth; Chapter 6 Hannah Arendt and Karl Jaspers- Dana Villa; Chapter 7 Another Cold War Liberalism? Coming to Terms with Karl Jaspers's Political Thought- Carmen Lea Dege; Chapter 8 Revealed Religion and Philosophical Faith: A Critical Analysis of the Position of Karl Jaspers- Werner Schüßler; Chapter 9 Karl Jaspers and the Axial Age- Jan Assmann; Chapter 10 The Conflict of Beliefs: Karl Jaspers on the Clash of Cultures- Jürgen Habermas; Index
