Borderline situation

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A borderline situation is colloquially an "unusual situation in which the usual means and measures to cope with it cannot be applied". It was first used as a philosophical term in 1919 by Karl Jaspers in his Psychology of Weltanschauung . In Jaspers' existential philosophy he describes situations in which the human being finally, inevitably and unmanageably reaches the limits of his being. It is the fearful experience of suffering, guilt, fate, struggle, unreliability in the world , death and the (contingent) "being in a situation yourself". They are "situations in which existence is immediately realized, final situations that cannot be changed or circumvented."

Origin of philosophy

After wonder and doubt, the borderline situations are the deeper origin of philosophy. For Karl Jaspers, the experience of transcendence emerges from the borderline situations . Human beings are repeatedly exposed to deep crises and inevitably reach their limits. These are situations that humans cannot go beyond and which they cannot change. Old age, sickness and death cannot be abolished.

Ciphers of Transcendence

Selfhood can sense transcendence by the fact that ciphers speak to it. An important cipher that speaks directly to people is being in failure. Only in real failure is being fully experienced. This takes place in the construction of a world with the will to endure, but with knowledge and the risk of doom. Behind being in failure stands transcendence.

The leap to being yourself

Man reacts to borderline situations either through veiling or through despair and through restoration: Man comes to himself in the transformation of his consciousness of being. There is only liberation from these situations if the person accepts and fully affirms it. In the borderline situation, the experience of transcendence is possible. This requires a leap out of despair and towards self-being and freedom:

"The origin in the borderline situations brings the basic drive to win the way to being in failure ... In the borderline situations either nothing appears or it becomes tangible what actually is despite and above everything vanishing worldliness."

- Karl Jaspers

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Definition according to Duden
  2. ^ Based on Arnim Regenbogen / Uwe Meyer: Dictionary of philosophical terms , Meiner, Hamburg 2005: Grenz / Grenzsituation.
  3. ^ Anton Hügli / Poul Lübcke (eds.): Philosophielexikon , Systhema-Verlag, Munich, CD-Rom 1996: Grenzsituation.
  4. ↑ a b Hans-Joachim Störig: Small world history of philosophy , exp. New edition, Fischer, Frankfurt a. M., 1997, p. 605.
  5. ↑ Karl Jaspers, Introduction to Philosophy , page 20.

literature

  • Karl Jaspers: Introduction to Philosophy , Piper, Munich 1971.
  • Karl Jaspers: Philosophy , Berlin 1956.
  • Hans Joachim Störig : Small world history of philosophy . Fischer, Frankfurt a. M. 1996, ISBN 3-596-13520-6 .
  • Dorothea Lauterbach, Uwe Spörl, Uli Wunderlich (eds.): Borderline situations. Perception, meaning and design in recent literature . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2002.

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