Translations of Husserl and the interpretations they beget. A case study of one concept

Abstract

The present study is carried out at the junction of phenomenology and a notably rare discipline — the history of the philosophical text. The main focus is on Husserl’s «Philosophy as a Rigorous Science» and its translation into Russian. A comparison of the original text and its translation into three languages (Russian, French, and English) is provided with special attention to a number of disputable positions. The advantages and disadvantages of each of the aforementioned translations are explored. Using several illustrative sentences, the author reveals a number of shortcomings in the translations that originate from principled limitations in the ability of a different language to convey not just Husserl’s intentional meanings, but also his intonation, which was an important part of his philosophical discourse. The history of the interaction of Synthesis and Synthese as two different lexicalizations of one and the same notion is explored on a corpus of German philosophical writings going back to the 18^th century.  The choice of this particular notion is not accidental. It shown that this very notion disappears in the Russian translation. The author explores the results of this exclusion and argues that it affected Husserl’s original master plan. The ultimate goal of the paper is to reveal the interconnections that the notions “synthesis”, “intuition”, “thought” and “experience” have in Husserl’s philosophy and to explore the extent to which these interconnections are reflected in the translations. This investigation shows a way to asses the interpretation proposed by a given translator as justified or unjustified.