Vom Ethos der Freiheit zur Ordnung der Freiheit

Karl Jaspers does not only possess a wealth of original insights into philosophy but also politics. For example, he uses the basic ethos of individual freedom as a springboard to examining the concrete political form of our liberal order. Therefore, with regard to the fledgling Federal Republic of Germany, his words of warning often focus on ensuring that people have the freedom to educate themselves. In a similar vein to Socrates, he calls for intellectual probity and political integrity so that humanity can meet the two main challenges of its times: a world armed with atomic weapons which could obliterate itself at any time and modern totalitarianism, which threatens to destroy all attempts to create political order by glorifying everything that is anti-political. It is Jaspers’ contention that genuine and lasting peace, which is more than the ominous and brittle calm of a ceasefire, can only be established by citizens who enjoy political freedom and who together safeguard the integrity of their political community.
With contributions by:
Karl-Heinz Breier, Alexander Gantschow, Anton Hügli, Annabelle Petschow, Kurt Salamun, Reinhard Schulz, Bernhard Sutor, Bernd Weidmann.