The Ethical Interpretation of Karl Jaspers’ “Ciphers of Transcendence”

Abstract

The article is an attempt to reveal the ethical meaning of the concept of the ciphers of transcendence, introduced by Karl Jaspers. The author aims to discover and demonstrate the valuable moral content of the notion, to show the ethical significance of Jaspers' works in general and to answer the question: what is the place of the ciphers of transcendence in Jaspers' ethics and in his philosophical system in general? Special attention is paid to the reasons why and from what perspective the ciphers of transcendence are so important for ethics that they are worthy of independent research. In this regard, a number of significant categories of the philosophy of existentialism is considered through the prism of ethics. Such moral and ethical phenomena of human existence as choice, freedom, longing for being and faith are discussed; their connection with the ciphers of transcendence and the moral significance of this connection are traced. We show that the cipher in Jaspers' philosophy embodies the essence of the philosopher's teaching, since the route of one's ascent from inauthentic modes of being to the authentic ones passes through the cipher. The article attempts to show what kind of ascent it is and what ethical sense the concept of the ciphers of transcendence reveals. It turns out not to be a term on the periphery, but a central element of the philosophical system, the essence of which is the moral elevation of a human being. As a result, the ethical content of Jaspers' philosophy is reconstructed and a new perspective on his worksis proposed, in which the ciphers of transcendence acquire an original edge prompted by the newly discovered moral meaning of the concept.