Of the several documentary projects I have going on right now, the one about AI has turned into a documentary on Plato as justification for class society. And as I write it, I'm coming to grips with a challenging realization: quoting Plato verbatim is
Something which perpelexes me is that conservatives condemn Marx for contemplating the "abolition of the bourgeois family" but Plato plans out the abolition of the family much more concretely in The Republic (Book V, I believe)--Yet conservatives, including Christians, love Plato.
I’m not very knowledgeable about philosophy, but I am about the theory and practice of translation. I mention this more as a curiosity, perhaps, as it might not have anything to do with what you’re pointing out. But just in case it might be of interest…
Here are my two cents on translation: the passage you quoted is written in a bit of an archaic style of writing —though I agree it’s inscrutable, at least to me.
Depending on when that was published, it might just be outdated, or it might be modern, but the translator chose that style to “preserve” the feel of “ancientness” of the text, if you will. “Old wine in old bottles”, as one of my translation professors used to say (and many translators do go this route, modern audiences be damned). And it is a translation strategy, which means it is a choice made by the translator(s)/publisher. As a strategy, it is artificial in that English is not Ancient Greek, so technically the translator(s) may opt for so-called “equivalents” in plainer language and more modern English (this is similar to what translation scholar Venutti calls foreignizing vs domesticating translations).
I haven’t looked into it, but it’s possible there are more modern translations written in plain text, and not just that, but making a bona Gide attempt to translate ancient Greek concepts into modern ones. There is nothing stopping any publisher from putting out a more accessible text, or figuring out ways to make it more accessible to laypeople. The ideas may still be somewhat foreign (we are talking about an ancient language spoken by an ancient culture, so there are several degrees of separation), but can be handled in a myriad ways by experienced translators and editors if that is their intention.
Something which perpelexes me is that conservatives condemn Marx for contemplating the "abolition of the bourgeois family" but Plato plans out the abolition of the family much more concretely in The Republic (Book V, I believe)--Yet conservatives, including Christians, love Plato.
Long comment/useless musing ahead...
I’m not very knowledgeable about philosophy, but I am about the theory and practice of translation. I mention this more as a curiosity, perhaps, as it might not have anything to do with what you’re pointing out. But just in case it might be of interest…
Here are my two cents on translation: the passage you quoted is written in a bit of an archaic style of writing —though I agree it’s inscrutable, at least to me.
Depending on when that was published, it might just be outdated, or it might be modern, but the translator chose that style to “preserve” the feel of “ancientness” of the text, if you will. “Old wine in old bottles”, as one of my translation professors used to say (and many translators do go this route, modern audiences be damned). And it is a translation strategy, which means it is a choice made by the translator(s)/publisher. As a strategy, it is artificial in that English is not Ancient Greek, so technically the translator(s) may opt for so-called “equivalents” in plainer language and more modern English (this is similar to what translation scholar Venutti calls foreignizing vs domesticating translations).
I haven’t looked into it, but it’s possible there are more modern translations written in plain text, and not just that, but making a bona Gide attempt to translate ancient Greek concepts into modern ones. There is nothing stopping any publisher from putting out a more accessible text, or figuring out ways to make it more accessible to laypeople. The ideas may still be somewhat foreign (we are talking about an ancient language spoken by an ancient culture, so there are several degrees of separation), but can be handled in a myriad ways by experienced translators and editors if that is their intention.
Wow who made this cool hero image!