Jaspers, Karl. La fe filosófica

Abstract

The review examines La fe filosófica, by Karl Jaspers, a volume gathering lectures delivered at the University of Basel and published by Losada in the series Obras Maestras del Pensamiento, with no Portuguese edition. The commentary follows the chapters in sequence. In the first, the concept of philosophical faith is delimited: it is not to be confused with religious belief, it depends on one's own commitment and rests on a certainty of truth that cannot be demonstrated in the manner of scientific knowledge. In the second, the contents of that faith are organised around four questions — what am I, what properly is, what is truth, how do I know — and the modes of truth: practical, of consciousness in general, of spirit and of existence. There follow the lecture on man, emphasising freedom and historical construction, and the discussion of the relations between philosophy and biblical belief. The chapter Philosophy and Unphilosophy is presented through three deviations: demonology, the deification of man and nihilism. The final chapter sets out the challenges of the present and the task of grounding reason anew in existence. The review notes the approximation drawn between the metaphysical notion of being and Kant's transcendental philosophy.