The main historical and philosophical work of the German philosopher Karl Jaspers, which examines the life and teachings of the most outstanding characters in the history of human thought from Heraclitus to Spinoza and Kant, is first brought to the attention of the Russian reader in full. The theme of the first part of Jaspers's grandiose plan is four teachers of mankind, who established in the axial time of history the measure and meaning of human existence in the fullness of its capabilities: "people setting the measure" - Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus Christ.