Throughout his life, German philosopher Karl Jaspers )1883-1969( recorded his experiences and reflections in diaries and correspondence. This comprehensive biography is the first to explore these extensive and candid private writings to illuminate not only Jaspers' life and relationships but also the ideas he proposed in Way to Wisdom, The Question of German Guilt, and many other published works. Suzanne Kirkbright provides a sensitive and intimate portrait of the philosopher whose work on truth, personal integrity, and the capacity for communication contrasted acutely with the erosion of such values in Germany in his lifetime. She describes how Jaspers' Jewish wife Gertrud influenced his thinking, the loss in 1937 of his professorship at Heidelberg University, and his relationship with such celebrated colleagues as Martin Heidegger and Hannah Arendt. Kirkbright examines the unshakeable ethical content of Jaspers' philosophy and demonstrates his unique and scrupulous personal adherence to the philosophical principles he espoused.
New Haven ; London
Yale University
2004
xxiii, 360 p., ]16[ p. of plates : ill. ; 24 cm.
Includes bibliographical references )p. ]344[-355( and index
ISBN: 0300102429
Suzanne Kirkbright
1
pt. 1. Decisions and realities -- A classical education -- Young scientist -- 'German student' -- Italian postscript -- pt. 2. Devotion, duty, and family ties -- Gertrud Mayer -- 'In the clinic' -- Max Weber -- Enno Jaspers -- pt. 3. Artistic associations -- 'Ordinarius' in Heidelberg -- Paris, Sicily, and Vincent van Gogh -- Martin Heidegger in the 0291s -- pt. 4. Absences and presences -- Inside Nazi Germany -- Nietzsche lectures -- Keeping faith -- Oxford connections, visitors, and loyal friends -- pt. 5. Picture of humanity -- 'Liberated by Allied Forces' -- Citizens of Basel -- 'Rencontres' in Geneva -- Talking peace -- pt. 6. 'In my end is my beginning' -- Butterflies in Sils Maria -- 'Child Hannah.'