A Translation Report On “René Descartes” In Philosophical Conversation:a Concise Historical Introduction(Excerpts)

Philosophy is a kind of timeless science and the study of it will enable us to foster a correct outlook of the world, life and values. However, with the development of domestic market economy, the enrichment of material conditions, and constant impact of multi-culture, people emphasize too much on utility. Thus, they neglect philosophy and the critical spirit of it gradually disappears. The original text is from Philosophical Conversation: A Concise Historical Introduction by Norman Melchert, on which this practice report is based. It outlines the basic viewpoint of Descartes’ philosophy and six meditations. It approves the achievement of Descartes and points out his errors as well. Chapter nine of this book adds up to more than 10,000 words. Language in this chapter is quite plain, understandable and logical. The author matches pictures with words to make the book readable. At present, nevertheless, we still lack the Chinese version of this book. Therefore, the translation of the book enables ordinary readers to have the general idea of the development processes of philosophy and important thoughts of philosophers.In order to make the translation more faithful to the original text, the translator reads the original text many times and studies the translation strategies to be taken in the process of translation. During the process, the translator employs reader-friendly words and phrases, breaks up long sentences, makes use of terms formed by common usage and conversion of part of speech in translation to ensure the readability of the translation and meet the needs of readers. Before embarking on translation report, the translator makes the best of network resources to find a number of background information about Descartes. Meanwhile, the translator borrows and reads some books about Descartes’ philosophical thought from the library.Through the translation practice, the author learns that translation of philosophical text, in no case, is a simple task. The translation of philosophical text is quite different from that of other literary genres. The culture between China and western countries is different. What’s more, the translator is not familiar with philosophy. As a result, some philosophical ideas and terms become the biggest obstacle in the process of translating. Therefore, the author tries hard to find a large number of materials about Descartes’ ideas and find the equivalent language when translating. What’s more, the author hopes that through the translating, more and more people will understand the significance of philosophy and something in the translation that requires translator’s attention.