Tagged "Philosophy"

Translation is a necessary cog in the wheel of a world where we have to operate with a multiplicity of languages. However, in spite of its recent ubiquity, we typically forget that translation is as much an art, as it is a science. As an art, it has a subjective side. Although this can be freeing with certain texts, it often leads to imprecision in others. I’ve come across this most recently while reading George Long’s translation of “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius¹. “Meditations” was originally written in Koine Greek which was in use around 2000 years ago, most famously in the New Testament². In “Meditations” there is constant reference to “universal reason” and “universe”³. As it turns out, in the original, Aurelius uses “λόγος” (logos) and “κοσμος” (cosmos)⁴ respectively⁵.

“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” by American author Philip K. Dick is known for a multitude of reasons; aside from the combined science fiction prevalence and influence of its great film adaptation, as well as general critical acclaim, it is a deep novel with a multitude of advanced themes. Thereamong, the issue of simulacrum is raised together with a meditation on the bane of the human condition—that is: entropy and mortality. Even though the latter in particular is not central, the story of Rick Deckard taking prime focus, it is precisely that which has fascinated me about the novel and thence it is this element which I will discuss in the article following.

Recently my thoughts have dwelt on simulacra — that is: copies, images, portraits of things and how these relate to reality¹. Philosophers too have contemplated this issue for a long time. From the ancient Greeks to the modern and post-modern philosophers, it seems as if everyone has chipped in to some extent. The topic is perhaps thence saturated with ideas, but I don’t believe that it has become obsolete, for the age in which we live is not the same as the one of which the great philosophers wrote. Perhaps there is yet something new to be explored: the context may have changed, but the way that things work has probably stayed the same. It is exactly that new context which develops the concept and expands its meaning and implications.