Abstract
I place Jaspers’ discussion of Confucius in the context of his project of writing a universal history of philosophy. But I say that Jaspers meets Confucius because he acknowledges the critical scholarship about dating and the authenticity of the texts attributed to Confucius and then goes on to form a picture of his subject that he claims has all its original freshness. Philosopher meets philosopher. I consider to what extent Confucius is a representative of the Axial Age. Jaspers emphasizes how Confucius gives priority to existential enactment over mere form. I suggest that the role of custom and ritual for Confucius is played for Jaspers by philosophical communication. Finally, I compare them as public figures.
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Notes
- 1.
Karl Jaspers, Vom Ursprung und Ziel der Geschichte (Munich: R. Piper & Co., 1949), p. 222. English translation, The Origin and Goal of History, trans. M. Bullock (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1953), p. 231. The translation loses the music of die Erinnerung (memory) and zerrinnen (to melt or vanish).
- 2.
Hannah Arendt, “Karl Jaspers: Citizen of the World,” in The Philosophy of Karl Jaspers, P.A. Schilpp, ed., Second Augmented Edition (LaSalle, IL: Open Court, 1981 [1957]), pp. 539–549. [Henceforth cited as CW] I got myself into a little trouble with Arendt over this term. The closest I got to studying with Jaspers was to take Arendt’s seminar on Plato at Northwestern in the Winter Quarter of 1961. The next year, when I asked her to write a letter supporting my application for a Fulbright Fellowship, the form asked for her nation of citizenship. Not knowing, and not knowing any better, I put “Citizen of the World.” She agreed to write the letter, but cautioned against such whimsy on official documents.
- 3.
Leonard Ehrlich, Karl Jaspers: Philosophy as Faith (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1975), p. 214.
- 4.
Karl Jaspers, The Great Philosophers, Vol. 1, ed., Hannah Arendt, trans., Ralph Manheim (New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962), p. 13. Original German, Die grossen Philosophen: Erster Band (Munich: R. Piper & Co., 1957). [Henceforth cited as GP1e and GP1g]
- 5.
Wing-Tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963), p. 14.
- 6.
Robert Neville, The Tao and the Daimon (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1982), pp. 142–143.
- 7.
Confucius, Analects 15:28, quoted in Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, 44. [Henceforth quoted as A]
- 8.
Karl Jaspers, Philosophy Vol. 2, trans., E.B. Ashton (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1969), p. 370. [Henceforth cited as P2]
- 9.
Karl Jaspers, Way to Wisdom, trans. Ralph Manheim (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1951 and 2003).
- 10.
Karl Jaspers, The Future of Mankind, trans. E.B. Ashton (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1961).
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Courtney, C. (2012). Jaspers Meets Confucius. In: Wautischer, H., Olson, A., Walters, G. (eds) Philosophical Faith and the Future of Humanity. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2223-1_18
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