The fundamental work of the German philosopher Karl Jaspers “Philosophy” (1932) is published in Russian for the first time. The second book of “Philosophy”, highly appreciated by H.A. Berdyaev, is devoted to the central problems of the doctrine of man. Defining a person as a “possible existence in existence” and clarifying the existential meaning of the human Self, the philosopher does not leave aside traditional problems: we find here a discussion of Cartesian “I am” and various solutions to the question of free will. The existential subject is revealed in communication with others: Jaspers clarifies the criteria for existential communication and the reasons for its interruption and non-occurrence. The existential subject is historical, acts in the unique situation of his world: the focus of consideration is therefore the theme of the “borderline situation”, where the self is revealed as unconditional and comes to itself: illness, death, guilt, struggle. The “unconditional actions” of the individual in such situations are analyzed; including the question of suicide. Existence operates in the polarity of objectivity and subjectivity; therefore, the philosopher examines the meaning of their unity, and what happens if existence betrays itself for the sake of an object or for the sake of subjective arbitrariness. Special attention is paid to the existential meaning of history and society, as forms of objectivity.