Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus: From the Great Philosophers, Volume 1 [Paperback]

 

 

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The previous reviewer, in reminding us of recent scholarship on Jesus and the Gospel tradition, raises several pertinent considerations. Jaspers' book generally reflects the more modern scholarship that has focused increasingly on certain parallel sayings in Matthew and Luke as "Q Gospel" remnants and on the earliest Vaticanus and Sinaiticus manuscripts of the earliest extant Gospel, Mark. Yet recent similarly focused studies on the other three paradigmatic figures covered here don't seem reflected in Jaspers' book to the same extent. Personally, I am not as disturbed as the previous reviewer may be by applying modern scholarship to the Gospels. Rather, what I miss is the same strictness applied to the other three written traditions. Confucius, for example, is eventually described as having held high office only when we get to relatively late texts in the Confucian tradition. Yet Jaspers accepts this description of him without question. In fact, if, as Jaspers does by inference in his Jesus chapter, we are to set some of what we read in the Gospel of John aside, then oughtn't we set aside similar texts describing Confucius as having had conspicuous political success? If the "Q Gospel" passages in Matthew/Luke and the earliest manuscript tradition for Mark are to be highlighted as delineations of the "historical Jesus", then only Chapters 3 through 9 of the Analects of Confucius, generally regarded as the earliest stratum of Confucian text, should be the primary basis for the kind of modern philosophical scrutiny Jaspers purports to offer. Jaspers' Confucius chapter does not confine itself to the kind of wandering, almost homeless, figure found in these seven earliest chapters. To be consistent, shouldn't it? While it's useful for Jaspers, at the outset of his Buddha chapter, to single out the Digha-Nikaya collection as the earliest stratum of Buddha sermons, the rest of the Buddha chapter goes well beyond the Digha-Nikaya collection, even flirting occasionally with Buddha traditions lying outside the Pali tradition, let alone the Digha-Nikaya collection! There's nothing inherently wrong with this, but it becomes inconsistent in the light of Jaspers' tacit adoption of certain tenets of modern historical criticism in his Jesus chapter. (To do Jaspers justice, he never explicitly offers quite the detailed textual background on the Gospel tradition that I attempt here.) What, IMO, might prove a more creditable effort -- since I would agree that these four figures indeed emerge as the most strongly verified human beings in history to live an essentially blameless life oriented toward an entirely self-made, and therefore inherently courageous, ethic -- would be a survey based exclusively on those fifteen or so sermons in the Digha-Nikaya regarded by modern scholars as the earliest for Buddha, on Chapters 3 through 9 of the Analects for Confucius, on the earliest, least "spun", Plato dialogues, such as the Charmides, the Hippias Minor, the Euthyphro, the Apology and the Crito, for Socrates, and on the Vaticanus/Sinaiticus Mark tradition plus the "Q" passages in Matthew/Luke for Jesus. It is unfortunate that Jaspers' book, with all its modern trappings (not in itself a bad thing, IMO), fails to do this rigorously. Hence, my three-star rating. Jaspers should be given credit, though, for a worthwhile start at the important task of evaluating perhaps the four finest human beings ever to walk this earth.

Karl Jaspers has undertaken an interesting study in the little book. He looks at the teachings of four men who have had the most far-reaching impact on our world. He claims that the greatness of their influence is measured in centuries as well as globally. The four great men he chose for this book are, as the title suggests, Socrates, Buddha, Confucius and Jesus. He entertained the thought of including Mohammed but chose not to. He explains that Mohammed "might be comparable in historical importance but not in individual depth (p. 87)." One other interesting insight comes from Jaspers on the same page. We have no writings from any of the four themselves - what we do have comes from their disciples after they died.

So much for the interesting, now for the question of trustworthiness.

Jaspers examined the biblical accounts of Jesus through the lens of higher criticism. In other words, Jaspers did not deal with the biblical text itself when he studied Jesus, he dealt with the text after sifting through what others thought was truly the teaching of Jesus. The reason this poses a problem is important to all readers, not merely to Christians. If he did not take the teachings of Jesus (as recorded by his disciples) at face value, did he take the teachings of Socrates, Buddha and Confucius (as recorded by their disciples) at face value? Is the reader really getting Socrates, Buddha, Confucius and Jesus, or is the reader getting Karl Jaspers? Knowing the aspects of Jesus' teachings that have been ignored in this study, and their importance to understanding Jesus' view of himself and the world around him, makes me wonder what we may have lost, in this study, from the other three great men included here.

This book is a very interesting idea. But, is it trustworthy scholarship? Not in my humble opinion. However, those who do not wish to sift through the original writings will inevitably want to read Jasper's abridgement of those writings. This may be to the readers' benefit, or to their detriment.

Jaspers has this rare ability to write both insightfully and very, very clearly on complex issues. Given the outstanding subject matter, this book had to be great !

For those who like Jasper's style I recommend also his account of Nietzsche's philosophy and life. It is a pure pleasure to read whether you agree with Nietzsche or not.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Made a big impression on me!
Aside from being an intelligently written book, I gave this book 5 stars because it made a big impression on me. Read more

Published on Jan 8 2002 by From_Plano_TX

5.0 out of 5 stars Stimulative
Jaspers, a thinker in his own right, was mystified by history. He came to see that, after all had been said and done, there were Four who changed the earth literally. Read more

Published on Jan 9 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Written
This book is a joy to read. Jaspers has a real talent for breaking down complex thoughts into detailed, easy to read format. Read more

Published on Oct 13 2000 by Jason D. Cavender

4.0 out of 5 stars Stimulating.
Jaspers, a kind of existential historian, like Hegel before him, wanted a representation of the Greats. Read more

Published on Aug 14 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars pleasure at leisure
This is a short reflection of different philosophers which can give you a glimpse of their thoughts living and effect of them on social set ups at that time. Read more

Published on July 26 2000

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