How did Karl Jaspers use conflict, guilt, suffering, and death to explore human existence?

For the German philosopher Karl Jaspers, the primary aim of philosophy is the "illumination of existence"—a process of revealing what it means to be human and what we can become.12

Jaspers argued that this illumination is achieved through the experience of "extreme" or "limit" situations that define the human condition: conflict, guilt, suffering, and death. These situations are characterized by their insurmountability; they provoke a total "shipwreck" of ordinary human possibilities.13

By confronting these unavoidable extremes, the individual is forced to move beyond mere "being-in-the-world" and instead realize their true existential humanity. In this state of crisis, the individual encounters the presence of absolute transcendence, which Jaspers often interpreted through "ciphers"—symbols found in persons, doctrines, or art that point toward a deeper reality. Ultimately, for Jaspers, engaging with these difficult aspects of life is essential for the individual to realize their freedom and authentic potential as a subject who thinks and exists.123