Ethical renewal and transcendence: “Guilt” and “foundering” beyond self-understanding

This article discusses the renewal of Karl Jaspers’s thinking via constituting a relation to transcendence. The trajectory outlined therein departs from the individual plane of Existenz and proceeds to the worldly and intersubjective sphere of otherness via the ideas of ‘unavoidable guilt’ (unvermeidlich Schuld) and ‘foundering’ (Scheitern). Eventually, the explication of the latter unveils the possible relation to being of transcendence as imbuing meaning for human existence. The author argues that the entity-like dimension of transcendence erects a metaphysical boundary before humans attempt to get through, let alone avoid, the extreme human experiences underlying the related ideas. Thus, inspired by Edmund Husserl’s association of self-knowledge, ultimate responsibility for humanity, and cultural transformation, the author suggests that, despite pertaining to the absoluteness beyond the immanent sphere, experiencing ‘unavoidable guilt’ and ‘foundering’ manifests the essentiality of constituting a relation to transcendence for meaningful human existence. Thus, based on the presentation of Jaspers’s mature view of subjectivity, transcendence is introduced as a primary element in what is referred to as an ‘ethic of unavoidability’ that is meant not only to face insurmountable human experiences but also to meaningfully respond to the perennial helplessness of humans before being.