The Concept of Existence by Karl Jaspers as a Contribution to Reflection on the Everyday Reality of Education

Abstract

The article presents a specifically defined concept of existence in the philosophy of Jaspers. In his interpretation, existence which allows man to rise above the shallowness of empirical (and therefore incomplete) life has sparked the afterthought on the everyday reality of education. According to Jaspers, boundary situations play an important role in human life, since they force man to make an effort aimed at transforming himself. Man, as a free creature, can make this effort and enter a boundary situation and existence, thus transcending towards Being, or he may stay out of existence. Creation of the self, which can be observed in a human being portrayed by Jaspers’ philosophy, is analogous to the process of education and self-education, as in the case of Kantian and neo-Kantian philosophy of education, when a man goes from anomie, through heteronomy, to moral autonomy.