Jaspers’ Concept of History

(An Analysis)

Jarnail Singh

Sydney, Australia

www.understandingguru.com

Life on Earth predates humans. History was born with the transition from mere biological existence to cognizant existence by humans. History happens, it is not created wilfully. It is the natural concomitant of human life on earth. Human history existed before humans learned to record it. Even where recorded, it is not easy to decipher. That is why “man’s history has largely disappeared from memory”, writes Karl Jaspers, in the Foreword of his book “The Origin and Goal of History”, and “Only through investigation and research does it become accessible and then only to a small extent.” This is what he exactly did in this book. Tracing the footsteps of human history, he comes up with a concept of “universal history” tying it to his notion of the “Axial Age” to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the development of human civilization. He thinks, and rightly so, that our present is the outcome of our past and has seeds of our future in it. The avowed aim of his book is to heighten “our awareness of the present” for which we need to understand our past because “a present that has attained fulfillment allows us to cast anchor in the eternal origin”.

In essence, Jaspers’ concept of history is an attempt to provide a holistic understanding of human history, emphasizing the shared human quest for meaning and the interconnectedness of diverse cultural and philosophical traditions. It calls for the recognition of both the unique contributions of different civilizations and the common threads that unite humanity across time and space. Some of its key elements are listed below.

Key Elements of Jaspers’ Concept of History

1. The Axial Age: This concept is the pivot of Jaspers’ idea of history. It is mentioned throughout the book but he discusses this in detail in part 1, chapter 5 of his book (1). The core points of his concept are as follows.

• Jaspers introduced the concept of the “Axial Age” (approximately 800 to 200 BCE) as a pivotal period in human history. During this time, major cultural and philosophical developments occurred independently in various regions, including Greece, India, China, and the Near East.
• In this period, profound thinkers such as Confucius, Socrates, the Buddha, and the Hebrew prophets emerged, laying the foundations for contemporary philosophical and religious thought.
• Jaspers believed these developments were crucial for the subsequent evolution of human civilization, as they introduced new ways of thinking about existence, morality, and society.

2. Unity in Diversity: Jaspers finds unity in the diversity of various cultures and civilizations. “What is historically new and for the first time in history, decisive about our situation is the real unity of mankind on the earth. The planet has become for man a single whole dominated by technology of communications.” (2) 

• This unity is reflected in the common existential and spiritual questions that different cultures have grappled with.
• Universal history, in Jaspers’ view, involves recognizing and understanding the interconnections and commonalities among diverse historical experiences.

3. Transcendence and Human Existence: Transcendence, as per Jaspers, is natural concomitant of existence. “Existence, which we are able to be, is therefore only together with transcendence, through which we are.”  (3) This quest for transcendence is central to Jaspers’ concept of history:

• Humanity’s quest for meaning, purpose, and understanding of existence. is a central theme in universal history.
• This quest is reflected in the development of religious, philosophical, and ethical systems across different cultures.

4. Historical Consciousness: Jaspers thinks that “along with history, the historical consciousness itself changes” (4) and discusses historical consciousness in part 3, chapter 4 of his book. The key points of his concept of historical consciousness are as follows.

• According to Jaspers, universal history fosters a sense of historical consciousness, enabling individuals and societies to understand their place in the broader human narrative.
• This consciousness involves a recognition of the temporal dimension of human existence, the awareness of past events, and the ability to envision future possibilities.

5. Philosophy of History:  Jaspers differs from the Western concept of history being founded in the Christian faith. For example, Hegel says that “all history goes towards and comes from Christ.” (5) Instead, he finds the foundation of history in the Axial Period and makes it universal.

• Jaspers’ concept of universal history is deeply philosophical, aiming to provide insights into the human condition and the evolution of human thought.
• He sought to transcend the particularities of individual histories to grasp the universal aspects of human development.

6. Dialogue Between Cultures: Dialectical discussion is a must because “mere opinion melts away in favour of well-founded judgement in the loving struggle with one’s neighbours.” (6) That is why

• Jaspers advocated for a dialogue between different cultures and civilizations. He believed that understanding universal history requires an openness to learning from the diverse experiences and wisdom of various cultural traditions.
• This dialogue is essential for fostering mutual understanding and cooperation among different societies.

Critique of Jaspers’s Concept of History

Karl Jaspers’ concept of history, particularly his emphasis on a unifying “axial age” and “universal history,” has faced some critiques.

• Jaspers links history to the linguistic capability of humans. However, history did exist before humans put it down in black and white. History is related to the evolution of humans. No doubt language is the vehicle of knowledge transfer between generations, but humans did transfer their knowledge to the next generation even when they had no linguistic capabilities. The linguistic capability was, in fact, the result of the transfer of that knowledge. Jaspers calls the pre-linguistic period history a “flux of perpetual change” and denies it the status of history as “spiritually it does not attain the status of history”. In his opinion “it is as though we feel solid ground under our feet wherever a word reaches us” (7). However, he rules out the possibility of the “word” being twisted for misinterpretation. Probably we do not have a choice.

• Jaspers’ idea that the ancient civilizations “lacked that spiritual tension which was first felt during the Axial Period and has been at work ever since, questioning all human activity and conferring upon it a new meaning.” (8) does not seem to hold water. Humans have always been in a spiritual tension. From day one, they have been troubled by and tried to answer questions about birth, death, and what happens around them in nature. To answer these questions, they created and believed in many myths. Some of them persist till today. It is another thing that with time human answers to these questions changed. Similarly, some of the answers of the Axial period are being revised or dusted away during this AI era. As per Y.N. Harari, “Most scholars agree that animistic beliefs were common among the ancient foragers.” Foragers or hunter-gatherers lived thousands of years before the Axia age.  Harari divides human history into three revolutions: the cognitive revolution, the agricultural revolution, and the scientific revolution. He believes human history began with the cognitive revolution about 70000 years ago. (9)
• Jaspers’ overemphasis on the Axial Period leads him to believe that it provides the world history with “the only structure and unity that has endured at least until our own time.” (10) There’s a tension between Jaspers’ desire to find unifying themes in history and acknowledging the unique experiences of different cultures. He does not enumerate the reasons as to why different civilizations went in different directions after the Axial Period. Probably that is why some of his critics accuse him of oversimplification as what may be the defining moment for one culture might not hold the same significance for another. It is said that Jaspers’s focus on the “axial age” as a turning point in global history overlooks the uniqueness and timeliness of various civilizations. Can we have a universal history that also respects and explains these differences? Some argue it’s unrealistic. Critics like Karl Popper felt the idea of a singular, unified narrative for all of humanity ignores the vast differences in cultures and experiences across the globe. They argue history is more fragmented and contingent on specific contexts. (11)

• Jaspers talks about universal history but seems to view it in patches and tries to construct a theoretical flux covering the whole of humanity. Sometimes he is also accused of being Eurocentric. Some scholars see Jaspers’ emphasis on Western philosophical traditions as implicitly privileging the European experience. They argue that his concept of “universal history” doesn’t adequately account for the rich intellectual contributions of non-Western cultures. However, this is probably because that is how human history is. We have also lost much of our history to make it look like a complete whole. As Kenneth Rasmussen wrote, “Here Jaspers’ pioneering work in world philosophy and what has been called his “cross-cultural hermeneutic paradigm” offers us a way of envisioning how this could proceed. Refraining from totalistic claims and unconscious Eurocentric pretension should not prevent us from an active, engaged communication in which Western ideas of freedom and human rights are ardently put forward and asserted”. (12)

• Jaspers agrees that “primal human impulses” are constant throughout the ages. “What are man’s primary motives, what are his vital impulses? Which remain constant throughout the ages, which undergo modification?” (13) Jaspers asks plenty of questions probing the impact of these impulses in shaping human history. However, he leaves it at that and does not fit it into his concept of universal history. He does not even enumerate these impulses. These primal impulses are enumerated in Indian thought as lust, greed, anger, love, and ego. Together they make what is called Maya in Indian thought. These primary impulses are the drivers of human history. We can experience and witness how corporate greed is shaping human history in our times.

• Jaspers gives credit for the birth of modern science to human impulses that he believes have roots in biblical religion. “The birth of modern science is perhaps unthinkable without the state of mind and the impulses that have their historical roots in Biblical religion. Three motives that impel research forward to the limit seem to have their origin here.” (14). But at the same time, he says that “In contrast to the East, Greek rationality contains a strain of consistency that laid the foundations of mathematics and perfected formal logic.” (15) Jaspers is not sure who to give credit for the proliferation of scientific temperament in the West that gave birth to the technological revolution. This technological revolution is considered the second Axial Age.

• Jaspers talks about the spread of ideas. “At all periods implements and ideas spread slowly over the face of the earth. Any new discovery causes us to search for the centre from which its diffusion proceeds.” (16) He assumes this spread of ideas to be an effortless function and rules out the possibility of a fight between the ideas for supremacy. However, most of the history can be traced back to the battle of ideas driven by primal impulses.

20/07/2024

References & Notes

1. The Origin and Goal of History, Yale University Press, 1953 edition.
   1. Ibid, page 126.
   1. Ibid, page 155.
   1. Ibid. page 231
   1. Ibid. page 1
   1. Ibid. page 154
   1. Ibid. Page 28
   1. Ibid. page 6
   1. Yuval Noah Harari, “Sapiens-A Brief History of Humankind”, Vintage, 2011 edition, Page 60.
   1. The Origin and Goal of History, Yale University Press, 1953 edition, page 8
   1. This view has been expressed in a PH. D thesis titled “History and Politics in the Thought of Karl Jaspers” by Nathan Wallace. The link to this paper is  https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3119&context=gc_etds
   1. From a paper presented at the 2015 Telos Conference. The link to this paper is https://www.telospress.com/karl-jaspers-concept-of-universal-history-in-the-context-of-his-age-and-ours
   1. The Origin and Goal of History, Yale University Press, 1953 edition, Page 30.
   1. Ibid. Page 91
   1. Ibid. Page 63
   1. Ibid. Page 48