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Explanation: I may be completely wrong, but within the limits of my limited knowledge of Jaspers, this is how I would translate it, though I would be happy to be disabused on this one.
"The limits are looked for, behind which there is no additional world and yet where not only nothingness need be. Man seeks clear consciousness of the possible orientation in the world by pointing out that Being itself never appears anywhere in the world or as the world, but only as fragmented being. With this presupposition of the consciousness of limit I am able to live with the world as with that about which pertinent, objective orientation is possible, and yet I need not surrender to the world, but I can live related to Being itself, which I cannot orient in the world."
- Karl Jaspers, Philosophy and Existence" http://www.mythosandlogos.com/Jaspers.html
My original reading was exactly along these lines. Then I convinced myself it might be otherwise largely because I could not find any confirmation that "in den Maßen" might be translated as "within the limits/dimensions/boundaries of" etc. Thanks for the confirmation! 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
I will certainly have to double check on that, but this is the only instance of which I know. The phrase seems to be a related to "Menschenmaß" which he writes of a few lines earlier. Grenzen, as you would expect, is the more usual term used throughout. For the moment "within the limits/boundaries of" makes good sense. Thanks for your thoughts and your suggestion.
I agree that there could be some idiomatic meaning in 'Maßen', like 'measures', 'in the shape of' etc. If it is an idiomatic play on words, then there should be some generally accepted standard translation for the word 'Maßen' in Jaspers. To be sure, you would have to compare his translated standard works and the original texts. Best not to improvise on that one, I'd say, it's too close to his central theme of 'Grenzen' (limits) ;-)
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14 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
within the limits of
Explanation: I may be completely wrong, but within the limits of my limited knowledge of Jaspers, this is how I would translate it, though I would be happy to be disabused on this one.
"The limits are looked for, behind which there is no additional world and yet where not only nothingness need be. Man seeks clear consciousness of the possible orientation in the world by pointing out that Being itself never appears anywhere in the world or as the world, but only as fragmented being. With this presupposition of the consciousness of limit I am able to live with the world as with that about which pertinent, objective orientation is possible, and yet I need not surrender to the world, but I can live related to Being itself, which I cannot orient in the world."
- Karl Jaspers, Philosophy and Existence" http://www.mythosandlogos.com/Jaspers.html
Helen Shiner United Kingdom Local time: 13:14 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 39
Grading comment
My original reading was exactly along these lines. Then I convinced myself it might be otherwise largely because I could not find any confirmation that "in den Maßen" might be translated as "within the limits/dimensions/boundaries of" etc. Thanks for the confirmation!
Notes to answerer
Asker: My original reading was exactly along these lines. Then I convinced myself it might be otherwise largely because I could not find any confirmation that "in den Maßen" might be translated as "within the limits/dimensions/boundaries of" etc. Thanks for the confirmation!
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +1
