The Translation of Philosophy to Japan from the Perspective of the Philosophy of Culture.

• Applicant: Dr. Ralf Müller
• Subject Area: History of Philosophy ; General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages ; Theoretical Philosophy
• Term: from 2018 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 398104355

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

The research project "The Translation of Philosophy to Japan from a Cultural Philosophical Perspective" examines philosophy in its historical becoming and investigates, using an example, how and under which conditions its self-conception is transformed. The focus is on the historical process in which Japanese scholars adopt academic philosophy of Western European imprint and transform the traditional understanding of philosophy. This process begins with Japan's opening at the end of the 19th century. The historical examination is grounded in a metaphilosophical project, as it is guided by the question of what philosophy actually is. This guiding question arises from the fact that an inherent contradiction of academic philosophy is made explicit: it is primarily Western- European influenced and has globalized in this form. However, its globalization cannot conceal the fact that philosophy cannot shed its historical-geographical constitution, while it claims to be universal. This contradiction, however, should not be resolved or overcome, but made transparent: It is Ernst Cassirer who relates the historicity and ideality of philosophy to each other in his approach. The relationality of the history and an ideal concept of philosophy can be seen as the engine of its development. Following Cassirer, the thesis is formulated that the transmission and appropriation of philosophy across space and time should be understood as translation. This translation is not to be understood as a static transfer of a concept from one language to another, but means that the object designated by the concept undergoes a transformation in the process of transfer, insofar as the concept of philosophy undergoes a transformation through language. As a result, it is shown to what extent philosophy itself must be conceptualized as translation and can be brought together at the intersection of historical process and systematic claim. The significance of the research project lies primarily in understanding the historical dynamics of philosophy and the transformation of philosophy at its borders.

Publications

• Tetsugaku Companion to Ueda Shizuteru. Tetsugaku Companions to Japanese Philosophy. Springer International Publishing.
  Ralf Müller; Raquel Bouso & Adam Loughnane (Eds.)
  
• Dōgen’s texts. Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures. Springer International Publishing.
  Ralf Müller & George Wrisley (Eds.)
  
• Kyoto in Davos. Intercultural Readings of the Cassirer-Heidegger Debate, edited by Tobias Endres, Ralf Müller, and Domenico Schneider. Culture and Dialogue, 12(1-2), 195-202.
  Busacchi, Vinicio
  
• Übersetzung und Überlieferung von Philosophie. Philosophy of Translation, 1-4.
  Hawkins, Spencer