Everything depends therefore on encountering thought at its source. Such thought is the reality of man's being, which achieved consciousness and understanding of itself through it.

This has become known as the biographical method and now forms the mainstay of modern psychiatric practice. The post later became permanent and Jaspers never returned to clinical practice. Nietzsche gained importance for me only late as the magnificent revelation of nihilism and the task of overcoming it.

He was often viewed as a major exponent of existentialism in Germany though he did not accept this label. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry Jaspers turned to philosophical inquiry and attempted to discover an innovative philosophical system.