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

The object of this historic-systematic research project is the reception of European philosophy in Japan beginning in the late 19th century. This three-year project aims to articulate this reception as a process of translation. The central thesis is that translation is a form of philosophical thinking and that philosophy is, in essence, a form of translation. The HISTORIC component of the thesis looks to the tradition of Japanese Philosophy and casts it as a history of translation. The SYSTEMATIC aspect builds on the analysis of this history and extends it by employing Ernst Cassirer’s Philosophy of Culture: The goal being to demonstrate how in Japan translation goes beyond linguistic-textual processes and impacts the act of philosophizing itself.As one of the most extensive and complex translation projects in global intellectual history, Japanese philosophy serves as a productive counter-example to major intra-European events of translation, such as the latinisation of philosophy in antiquity or its continued vernacularisation since the Renaissance. This project approaches its core thesis by an examination of the first 100 years of Japanese philosophy since 1862. We begin from the translation of central concepts and texts in the earliest compendiums such as the Tetsugaku Ji’i (1881) and end with the works of Ueda Shizuteru (1926-). Moreover,  Japanese philosophy is a paradigmatic example of a 21st-century global philosophy since through translation it is carried out and sustained as a synthesis between different languages and cultures. This project focuses precisely on these unique syntheses to inquire regarding the importance of translation on the act of philosophizing. Through this approach, the project addresses not only one of the most important issues of intercultural philosophy, but also helps to correct the deficits of the hermeneutic model that is prevalent in intercultural philosophy insofar as it construes translation as a secondary gesture to the act of philosophizing.Because the project leader is well integrated at the University of Hildesheim, funding will augment current preparatory scholarship in Japanese studies and philosophy. Additionally, support will help facilitate further international cooperation and dissemination of research findings with the collaboration of Prof. Uehara Mayuko of Kyoto University. An additional PhD project will provide more depth for the historic-systematic aspect by examining individual concepts as they are translated into the Japanese language and as Japanese Philosophy. The international scope of the research will be further augmented through the participation of Prof. Cohen Skalli, as a Mercator fellow from the University of Haifa. By bringing together Germany, Japan and Israel, this project will make important and original contributions to the present debate on the relation of philosophy and translation.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants