The Existentialism Path Analysis Of Jaspers’ "Axial Age Theory"

Jaspers’ "Axial Age theory" is derived from existentialism philosophy,under the guidance of which,his thinking about historical philosophy has a series of new changes compared with the traditional western philosophy of history.He holds that the historical development of human beings changes and develops around the "Axial Age" shared by different regions of human beings,and expounds the essence of his "Axial Age theory" with "the origin and goal of history".Jaspers focuses on when and how people became aware of their own existence throughout the history of human civilization——the unification process of "world history" is actually an intuitive mapping of the process of "survival realization" in the real world,and points to the next axial era.In his opinion,at present,we are facing a great crisis that the age of technology may submerge all cultures and bring the problem of world order in a new way.The rule of technology is expanding so much that the technology-oriented science itself is also fully technicalized.In fact,behind the comprehensive construction of the universal order of human life by technology is the overall control field of capital.The mutual coupling between technology and capital has become the most prominent reality in current social development.The essence of the technological era is the technology of capital multiplication,whose mission is to meet the needs of capital multiplication and capital domination,so that the order of life is reconstructed,and the individual spirit is disciplined as a means to achieve the goal.Jaspers is optimistic,however,that "man cannot cease to be human" and that this technological age will herald a reshaping of "human existence".In order to achieve survival,it is necessary to rely on the maintenance of individual self to resist the alienation of human beings in this era,and at the same time,it is necessary to establish the bond between self and self in communication,so as to link up life and ensure that it is not consumed,and become a possible reality.Nowadays,modern technology is once again accelerating upgrading and even undergoing fundamental changes.The crisis observed by Jaspers is not alleviated,but intensified.It should be the mission of every modern man to return to the realm of existence and obtain the true existence.In the pursuit of the unity of human civilization development,he purely takes human beings and their existence as the criterion,and although he recognizes the exploitation and domination of human beings by capital identified by Marx through labor,he refutes his relevant judgment on the inevitability of social development,but still focuses on human existence itself.However,it is of great significance to reconsider Jaspers’ "Axial Age theory" and to reflect on the current human existence from the perspective of historical philosophy.