State, Huma, and Pedagogy in the Political Thought of Jaspers: (An Ontological Approach to the Modern State)

A history study of the modern state shows that such a system has led to some sort of political-social stability in Western societies. Nevertheless, some existentialist thinkers such as Karl Jaspers have criticized the foundations of modernism and hence the modern state. Jaspers believes that a state grounded in political modernity results in a mass politics and a deficiency in the genuine human autonomy and freedom because it is dominated by techniques, lacks realism, has biased conceptions of the human condition, and lacks the ability to establish proper relations between people. By criticizing this political system, Jaspers tries to pave the path for an increased human role in politics. The main question of the present research is: What are the main critiques of the foundations of modernism and the modern state in Jaspers’s work and what are his suggestions for alleviation of its negative repercussions? This research draws on the descriptive-analytic method to show that, in Jaspers’s political thought, there are two factors that facilitate individual and social growth: historical understanding and human self-conscious rationality. By deploying these tools, and a proper political training, the government will be able to minimize the threats of a modern mass society.