La dimensione del femminile nell’orizzonte filosofico-esistenziale di Karl Jaspers

This essay explores the dimension of the feminine within the existential and philosophical framework of Karl Jaspers. Through an analysis of his autobiographical writings and cli- nical experiences, the study reveals how Jaspers’ thought is deeply intertwined with female figures – his mother, his wife Gertrud Mayer, and other formative women – who signifi- cantly shaped his philosophical and emotional development. The feminine is not presented as a fixed category but as a relational mode: a space of vulnerability, love, and embodied truth. Jaspers’ engagement with the suffering of young girls in his psychiatric research re- flects a radical openness to the incomprehensible and a refusal of reductive explanations. His philosophy emerges as an existential path grounded in lived encounters with others, privileging antinomy over dichotomy and relational responsibility over abstract rationali- ty. The feminine thus becomes a vital force in his work, enabling a vision of philosophy as shared existence and transformative dialogue.