| Abstrakt: |
Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) was an important philosopher and thinker chiefly in the areas of epistemology, existentialism, the philosophy of religion, and also political theory amongst others. However, his ideas have to a very large degree become obscured over the years. This notwithstanding, among his important contributions, Jaspers articulated the notion that individuals do not cognize objects but explain and objectify their being as often unique thinkers and consequently they become themselves. It is a question of delineating and analysing the structure of Being, as such, which leads to ultimate illumination. Humanity may understand the mechanical operations of our corporeal world through science, but it is only philosophy that is proficient in giving insights into the human condition and the individual being who, in turn, has a capacity to exercise freedom. This article considers Jaspers' ideas on transcendence and how they differ from mainline Eastern Orthodoxy. It argues that only a person whose entire being has been transformed by faith has some access to truth. It is further advanced that, faith is a priori philosophical and not religious issue because it is ultimately a personal and thus subjective matter and has no support in authority. Faith is thus not to be viewed as an objective and communicable subjugator of reason. It is through suffering and a range of experiences and ultimately the reconning with death, that one encounters ultimate situations wherein the Transcendent God is encountered. God is not an object and can be known and described only through myths and symbols or ciphers. The Transcendent Being (God) is symbolically expressed in religion. Jaspers view of Being in its various facets is in opposition to Eastern Orthodox Christian views which is what this work interrogates to a limited extent. The Orthodox doctrine of God perceives God as a Transcendent Being in each of the material and immaterial domains of His Creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
