The Origin and Goal of History (Routledge Classics) 1st Edition

Karl Jaspers is being re-discovered especially with his thoughtful and thorough description of the Axial Age. History is of great value especially when someone like Mr. Jaspers whose training and interests embark the reader in the analysis of historical events. In this case with global references which describes where the world would be in the future.

The concept this book is best known for, the "Axial Age" or "Axial Period," is intriguing but in the form given to it by Jaspers scarcely tenable. Of the "events" or personages he locates around 500 BCE (+/- 300) only most of the Greeks are historically/archaeologically attested. Practically others are legendary, which means that they may either be the products of fictions, often written centuries after the "Axial Age," or, if they did exist, that they may have flourished in a very different time, and very different manner, than protrayed, so that they would be hardly recognisable in the written references. In other words, the Greeks apart, there is practically no empirical evidence for the "Axial Age." Indeed, if the historical/archaeolgoical evidence shows anything, then that much of these literatures flourished centuries later, at a time when cultural connections demonstratively took place, notably via Hellenisation, so that it may yet emerge that much of the "events" he considers to have been independent of each other and spontaneous may in fact have been interdependent, and sprung from a single or a much smaller set of sources.

Karl Jasper is one of the few German Philosophers that writes to the point in clear normal language. No created fancy words or over the top philosophical terms. I tried to collect or read as much of his writings I can find. Sadly his best works are mostly out of print. I once had a copy of "Man in the Modern Age" custom printed & bounded in the early 1990's. Written in the 1930's Karl Jaspers could foresee into the future the plight of mankind.This book, "The Origin & Goal of History" I found a hard back copy at a Roman Catholic monastery, I checked it out & took it home for a few weeks. What a mind opening delight. This time Karl Jaspers turns his eyes to the past & develops a complete thesis of historical theory: Humanity's origin as ONE giving birth to 4 river civilizations that fragments into many cultures unto the AXIAL AGE from 800 to 200 BC were philosophical & religious thought blossoms & spreads to enlighten mankind through out the world. Then the later raise of vast empires unto the modern age with its 2 World Wars until globalization forces mankind to rethink & rejoin as a whole.When I wrote this review there were 3 books at around $65.00, someone was tempted!

This work describes the concept of the Axial Age and answers some early criticisms of the idea. Then Jaspers proceeds to develop a sweeping overview of human history from pre-history onward.I don't see, however, that this work "makes mincemeat of Darwinian thinking" as is asserted by a previous reviewer. Rather, the concept that there could be parallel evolutionary developments re-evolving similar responses to similar situations is quite in accord with evolutionary thinking. There are numerous examples of such parallel developments in biological evolution (see Simon Conway-Morris' "Life's Solution"). No one to my knowledge is trying to suppress the simultaneous domestication of grains in (as I recall) seven locales around the planet (see Jared Diamond's "Guns Germs and Steel" for example).Further, the assertion that the axial developments were completely independent (which was Jaspers' view as well as that of the previous reviewer) is on somewhat shaky ground owing to the work of Thomas McEvilley "The Shape of Ancient Thought", for example, who traces the continuous interplay of peoples along the axis thereby providing excellent opportunities for cross-fertilization of spiritual and philosophic ideas.There is no disputing several centuries of Euro-centric views of history and Jaspers was one of the few in his era to thoughtfully step outside that box - and there are still only a few who have (Burkert and Hobson come to mind).I do agree with the previous reviewer that this work is certainly worth being reissued or made available via books-on-demand.

This is one of the most significant works of the twentieth century yet it is not even in print. Deep sixed from the word go. Remarkable! Even books detailing the intellectual biography of Jaspers omit mention of it. The various efforts to subject the issues to scholarly study distort the original observations. What's going on? The reason is not hard to find. It contains the first crystallization of something current science and religion don't want to face, the phenomenon of synchronous parallel evolution, global in scale, and operating in a fashion that flagrantly contradicts received dogmas of religious, scientific and economic history. Check out the reviewer's World History and the Eonic Effect for a discussion of this text. Meanwhile it should be reissued and the public deserves to know the existence of this line of historical evidence going back to the nineteenth century. It makes mincemeat of Darwinian thinking. Aha! Now we know why they deep sixed the book.

Windy, vague and pompous argument for some sort of Hegelian teleological reading of history. Mainly waffle.