Anatoly Akhutin. The “Homonymy” in Translation of Philosophical Terms. Vol. 3. No. 1. 2018

Publication Details

Abstract

Translation of philosophical terms encounters specific difficulties. The philosophical concept, on the one hand, is deeply connected with semantics of the language in which it was developed. On the other hand, a subject, which it concerns (“world”, “nature”, “consciousness”, “concept” itself…), arises — a as if for the first time — in a unique logic of speculation and is defined by it. For the philosophical systems, therefore, there could be no general extra-philosophical thesaurus that could be used for translation. For example, if the Greek words “idea” or “kosmos” are used today for translation of the corresponding terms of Greek philosophy, a literal homonymy occurs. Moreover, even in the cases where the name is translatable, a kind of homonymy occurs on another level: the name will be translated, but it will signify another concept, that is, another λόγος τῆς οὐσίας, in the wording of Aristotle’s definition of homonymy: another definition of the very nature of the object of definition. Such a homonymy could be illustrated, in particular, with the translations of the words constituting this phrase itself: λόγος could be rendered as ratio, ground, statement, whereas οὐσία as substantia, essence. Translation of the philosophical terms requires not only philological but also properly philosophical competence.

Keywords

Philosophy, philology, translation, homonymy, concept, semantic, “logos”, logic, “kosmos” (space).

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© Anatoly Akhutin, 2018