Faith without Dogmatism: Karl Jaspers’ Critique of Bultmann's and Barth's Dogmatic Theologies

In his mature philosophical writings, Karl Jaspers juxtaposes his own theory of reason with what he considers irrational and dogmatising tendencies in the works of Rudolf Bultmann and Karl Barth. On Jaspers's view, both Bultmann and Barth construct theologies that serve as a priori frameworks through which to understand all the contingencies of existence. In opposition to such dogmatisms, Jaspers advances a hermeneutics that forbids, in advance, any permanent conclusions by proposing that we understand religious, artistic, and other approaches to transcendence as ciphers. Such ciphers, Jaspers holds, offer no fixed and final interpretation of transcendence but offer a way to remain non-dogmatically open to a wide range of possible understandings of it. As opening up a non-dogmatic form of communication, cipher-reading is guided by reason's will to openness and communication. However, as I ultimately point out, Jaspers's own effort to develop a non-dogmatic hermeneutics is beset by some of the very difficulties he identifies in the theologies of Barth and Bultmann.     

自由与美德的双重政治——亚里士多德的政治概念

亚里士多德探讨政治概念,是在统治的视角下进行的,需要区分家长统治、主人统治(专制)、政治统治,以此来凸显政治具有的自由与美德的双重特点。其中,自由是底线性原则,美德是主导性原则。政治的双重性落在公民身上,就是既要统治又要被统治,因此政治被希腊人认为是他们独有的。自由就意味着法治,法治也体现基于美德的分配正义;同时,政治背后既有自然基础,也有某种超越性。只有讨论了政治概念,才能回答什么是最佳政体的问题。只有贵族制兼顾自由与美德,是严格的政治统治也就是最佳政体。其他政体,要么是缺少自由的家长统治(君王制),要么是自由与美德都缺的主人统治(僭主制),或是有部分自由(共和制、民主制、寡头制),都不是最佳政体。