The Origin and Goal of History

Description

Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Original Title Page; Original Copyright Page; FOREWORD; Table of Contents; PART ONE. WORLD HISTORY; INTRODUCTION: The Structure of World History; I. THE AXIAL PERIOD; A. CHARACTERISATION OF THE AXIAL PERIOD; B. THE STRUCTURE OF WORLD HISTORY SINCE THE AXIAL PERIOD; C. EXAMINATION OF THE AXIAL PERIOD THESIS; 1. Does it exist as a fact?; 2. What is the nature of the parallelism asserted?; 3. What caused the facts of the Axial Period?; 4. The meaning of the Axial Period; II. SCHEMA OF WORLD HISTORY; III. PREHISTORY; A. HISTORY AND PREHISTORY.;First published in English in 1953, this important book from eminent philosopher Karl Jaspers deals with the philsophy of the history of mankind. More specifically, its avowed aim is to assist in heightening our awareness of the present by placing it within the framework of the long obscurity of prehistory and the boundless realm of possibilities which lie within the undecided future. This analysis is split into 3 parts: World historyThe present and the futureThe meaning of history. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Original Title Page Original Copyright Page FOREWORD Table of Contents PART ONE. WORLD HISTORY INTRODUCTION: The Structure of World History I. THE AXIAL PERIOD A. CHARACTERISATION OF THE AXIAL PERIOD B. THE STRUCTURE OF WORLD HISTORY SINCE THE AXIAL PERIOD C. EXAMINATION OF THE AXIAL PERIOD THESIS 1. Does it exist as a fact? 2. What is the nature of the parallelism asserted? 3. What caused the facts of the Axial Period? 4. The meaning of the Axial Period II. SCHEMA OF WORLD HISTORY III. PREHISTORY A. HISTORY AND PREHISTORY. B. OUR ATTITUDE TO PREHISTORYC. A TEMPORAL SCHEMA OF PREHISTORY D. WHAT HAPPENED IN PREHISTORY? 1. Biological characteristics of man 2. Historical acquisitions E. THE OVERALL ASPECT OF PREHISTORY F. DO ALL MEN FORM PART OF A SINGLE WHOLE? IV. THE ANCIENT HISTORICAL CIVILISATIONS A. SUMMARY B. WHAT EVENTS USHERED IN HISTORY? C. ANALOGIES AND DIVERSITIES BETWEEN THE ANCIENT CIVILISATIONS V. THE AXIAL PERIOD AND ITS CONSEQUENCES A. THE STRUCTURING OF WORLD HISTORY BY THE AXIAL PERIOD B. WORLD HISTORY AFTER THE BREAK-THROUGH C. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INDO-GERMANIC PEOPLES. D. HISTORY OF THE WEST1. The overall aspect 2. The significance of the Christian axis 3. The cultural continuity of the West VI. THE SPECIFIC QUALITY OF THE WEST Countries and peoples Political liberty Consistent rationalism Inwardness of personal selfhood Impossibility of circumventing the world Undogmatism and the exception Claim to exclusive truth Decisiveness Personalities VII. ORIENT AND OCCIDENT: THE EASTERN AND THE WESTERN WORLD VIII. ONCE MORE: A SCHEMA OF WORLD HISTORY PART TWO. PRESENT AND FUTURE I. THE INTRINSICALLY NEW: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INTRODUCTION. I. MODERN SCIENCEA. CHARACTERISATION OF MODERN SCIENCE 1. Universal 2. In principle incomplete 3. Devoted to the smallest phenomenon 4. No cosmos, but a cosmos of the sciences 5. Radicality 6. No dominant categories, but the mastery of all categories 7. The scientific attitude B. THE ORIGIN OF MODERN SCIENCE Sociological preconditions The will to power The Biblical religion C. ABERRATIONS AND TASKS OF MODERN SCIENCE 2. MODERN TECHNOLOGY A. THE NATURE OF TECHNOLOGY 1. Definition of technology 2. The great historical dividing-line within technology B. THE NATURE OF WORK. 1. Definition of work2. Work after the dividing-line of modern technology C. APPRAISAL OF WORK AND TECHNOLOGY Appraisal of work Appraisal of modern technology 1. Remoteness from nature and new nearness to nature 2. Misjudgment of the limits of technology 3. Perception of the demonism of technology II. THE PRESENT SITUATION OF THE WORLD INTRODUCTION A. CHARACTERISATION OF THE PRESENT SITUATION 1. The masses have become a decisive factor in the historical process 2. The dissolution of traditional values (lack of faith) Thinking in ideologies Simplification Life out of negation.