Karl Jaspers: Biography Of This German Philosopher And Psychiatrist
Existentialist philosophy constitutes a model of thought that focused on the study and reflection of the human condition, on the freedom of people and their responsibilities as individuals; as well as in emotions and the meaning of life.
This trend originated in the 19th century and extended until the second half of the 20th century, with Karl Jaspers being one of its creators and a great defender of it. In addition to being one of the great promoters of existentialism, this German philosopher and psychiatrist greatly influenced both psychology and philosophy as well as theology. This article will focus precisely on the story of his life, the biography of Karl Jaspers as well as in his contributions to different disciplines of knowledge.
Born in Oldenburg, February 23, 1883, Karl Theodor Jaspers was a famous psychiatrist and philosopher whose influence on psychiatry and modern philosophy has led it to appear in all the books on the history of both disciplines.
This popular German thinker studied and received his doctorate in medicine at the university of his hometown in 1909. His beginnings in the world of work began at the psychiatric hospital of the University of Heidelberg, known for having been the workplace of the psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin only. a few years before.
But Jaspers did not like the way in which the scientific society of the time treated research into mental illnesses, so from then on his goal would be to change the perspective of this research. This need made him temporarily settle as a psychology professor at that same university. Eventually, he became permanent and never returned to clinical practice.
With the rise of Nazism, Jaspers had to step aside from the university management , since his opposition to the system and his wife’s Jewish origin cost him his expulsion from the field of teaching, without being able to return until Hitler’s term ended. After the fall of Nazi rule, the doctor turned professor was able to regain his position and, in addition, collaborate in the recovery of German education.
At this time he was able to once again enjoy a public life well integrated into German society. In 1947 he was awarded the Goethe Prize and in 1959 he received the Erasmus prize for his contribution to the recovery of Europe.
Last years of life and death in Basel
During his stay in Heidelberg, Karl Jaspers felt extremely disillusioned by the German political context and in 1948 he went to the University of Basel. Finally, in 1961 he retired from teaching due to his advanced age.
Jaspers questioned the democracy of the Federal Republic of Germany in his work The Future of Germanywritten in 1966. Due to the not very good reception that this work had among the political class, Jaspers He was forced to adopt Swiss nationality in 1967 dying in the same city of Basel a couple of years later.
He was awarded the title of Doctor honoris causa at different universities, including the University of Paris, Heidelberg and Basel. He was also an honorary member of various scientific communities, including in Spain where he participated in the Madrid Forensic Medicine Society.
Jaspers’ contributions to psychology and psychiatry
As mentioned above, Jaspers never fully agreed with the way the medical society understood mental illness, creating an ongoing discussion about whether both the diagnostic criteria and clinical methods used in psychiatry were really adequate.
Likewise, in 1910 he developed a transformative essay in which considered the possibility that paranoia was a product of biological alterations or if it constituted another nuance of the personality. Although he did not contribute greatly to this matter, it did lead to the creation of a new procedure for the study of human psychology.
This new change consisted of examining and recording the patient’s biographical data and the way in which he or she noticed and felt his or her own symptoms. This new work formula became known as the biographical method a method that is currently still preserved in psychological and psychiatric practice.
Karl Jaspers and the study of delusions
One of Jaspers’ most famous quotes was: “the study of the psychic being requires an explanatory psychology, a comprehensive psychology and a description of existence.” From this point of view, psychology had to respond to several fronts of questions that have to do with mental life.
Likewise, Jaspers thought that the same procedure should be followed when diagnosing delusions, considering the way in which the patient held these beliefs and not just their content. From this he distinguished between two types of delusions: primary delusions and secondary delusions:
1. Primary delusions
These arose without an obvious reason, becoming indecipherable within the framework of normality and without a reasonable argument behind them.
2. Secondary delusions
Such delusions seemed to be related to the person’s life history with its context in the present moment or with its mental state.
A psychiatry focused on forms
Finally, Jaspers expressed his vision of mental illness in the work General Psychopathology (1913), a work that became a reference classic in psychiatric bibliography and whose diagnostic guidelines have served as inspiration for modern diagnostic procedures.
The most relevant aspect of these works was the idea that opinion in psychiatric diagnosis should be based more on form than content A valid example is that when diagnosing a hallucination, the way in which said hallucination presents itself (visual, auditory, etc.) is more important than its content.
Contributions to philosophy
Jaspers’s thought has usually been incorporated into existentialist philosophy. The reason is that at the base of his ideas are the philosophy of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, with reflections on personal freedom being very characteristic of his work.
In his three-volume work Philosophy (1932), Jaspers portrays his way of seeing the history of philosophy, also including his most relevant theses. In them he establishes that when we doubt reality we surpass the border that the scientific method cannot cross Upon arrival at this place, the person has two alternatives: resign or launch toward what Jaspers calls “transcendence.”
For Jaspers, “transcendence” is what the person finds beyond time and space. In this way, the person examines his own agency, which Jaspers calls “existenz”, and thus manages to truly live true existence.
Regarding religions, Jaspers censured any religious dogma, which even included the existence of a God. However, also He left an important mark on modern theology through his philosophy of transcendence and the borders of human experience.
Likewise, Jaspers reflected on the impact that science, politics and modern economics posed as a challenge to people’s freedom. This is a debate that is still very topical today.
