yes, therapy helps!
Karl Jaspers: biography of this German philosopher and psychiatrist

Karl Jaspers: biography of this German philosopher and psychiatrist

March 29, 2024

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 the emotions and the meaning of life.

This current originated in the nineteenth century and lasted until the second half of the twentieth century, Karl Jaspers being one of its creators and a great defender of it. Besides 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.


  • You may be interested: "The existentialist theory of Søren Kierkegaard"

Who was Karl Jaspers? Biograd and trajectory

Born in Oldenburg, February 23, 1883, Karl Theodor Jaspers was a famous psychiatrist and philosopher whose influence in psychiatry and modern philosophy has led him to appear in all the books of the history of both disciplines.

This popular German thinker studied and received his doctorate in medicine at the university of his native city in 1909. His beginnings in the working world began at the psychiatric hospital of the University of Heidelberg, known to have 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 moment treated the investigation of mental illness, so from that time his objective would be to change the perspective of these investigations. This need made him install himself temporarily as a professor of psychology at that same university. Finally, it became permanent and never returned to clinical practice.

  • Related article: "What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?"

Exile for the war and return to Germany

At the height of Nazism, Jaspers had to move away from the direction of the university , since his opposition to the system and the Jewish origin of his wife cost him the expulsion outside the field of education, unable to return until the end of Hitler's term. After the fall of the Nazi domination, the doctor turned into a professor was able to recover his position and, in addition, to collaborate in the recovery of the German education.


During this time he was able to enjoy a well-integrated public life in German society. In 1947 he was awarded the Goethe Prize , and in 1959 he collected 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 was extremely disappointed by the German political context and in 1948 he left for 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 Germany, written in 1966. Due to the not very good reception that this work had among the political class, Jaspers he was forced to adopt the 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 in various universities, including the University of Paris, the University of Heidelberg or the University of Basel. He was also honorary partner of diverse scientific community, including in Spain where he participated in the Forensic Medicine Society of Madrid.

  • Related article: "History of Psychology: authors and main theories"

Contributions of Jaspers to psychology and psychiatry

As mentioned above, Jaspers was never entirely in agreement with the way in which the medical society understood mental illnesses, creating a continuous discussion about whether both the diagnostic criteria and the clinical methods used in psychiatry were really adequate.

Also, in 1910 he produced 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 in this case it did not contribute to a great extent, it did mean the creation of a new procedure for the study of human psychology.

This new change was based on examining and recording the biographical data of the patient and the way in which he noticed and felt his own symptoms. This new work formula became known as the biographical method , method that at the moment still is conserved in the psychological and psychiatric practice.

Karl Jaspers and the study of delusions

One of Jaspers' most famous quotes was: "The study of 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 one should proceed in the same way in the diagnosis of delusions, considering the way in which the patient held on to these beliefs and not just the content of these. 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 deliriums

Such delusions They 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 captured his vision of mental illness in the work General Psychopathology (1913), a work that became a reference classic in the psychiatric literature and whose diagnostic guidelines have served as inspiration for modern diagnostic procedures.

The most important aspect of these works was the idea that the opinion in the psychiatric diagnosis should be based more on the form than on the content . A valid example is that before the diagnosis of a hallucination, it is more important the way in which said hallucination is presented (visual, auditory, etc.) than the content of it.

Contributions to philosophy

Usually, Jaspers' thought has been incorporated into existentialist philosophy. The reason is that at the base of his ideas are the philosophy of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, being the reflections on personal freedom very characteristic of his work.

In his three-volume work Philosophy (1932), Jaspers portrays his way of seeing the history of philosophy, including in addition his most relevant theses. It states that when we doubt reality we surpass the border that the scientific method can not cross . Arriving at this place, the person has two alternatives: resigning or launching into what Jaspers calls "transcendence".

For Jaspers, "transcendence" is what the person finds beyond time and space. In this way, the person examines his own will, which Jaspers calls "existenz", and thus manages to really live the true existence.

As far as religions are concerned, Jaspers censured any religious dogma, which even includes the existence of a God. However, also he left an important mark in modern theology through his philosophy of transcendence and the frontiers of human experience.

Also, Jaspers reflected on the impact that science, politics and modern economics posed as a challenge to the freedom of people. This is a debate that is still very topical today.


Reflections on the Phenomenological Psychiatry of Karl Jaspers - Dr. Aicha Hind Rifai (March 2024).


Similar Articles