Philosophical Encounters: Europe and East Asia

Catalog description

"Translation is the most crucial and weightiest of all world affairs." Goethe wrote in a letter to his English translator, Thomas Carlyle in 1827. The German poet and the Scottish historian came to be known in each other's language without having physically met, exemplifying a mode of intellectual exchange that shaped the landscape of cross-cultural dialogue before the age of globalization. Encountering others in fables rather than in genuine dialogue, in remote imagination rather than military conquest or artful diplomacy, was and still remains the predominant way in which most ordinary citizens experience the foreign and the unfamiliar among themselves. In this course, we ask what makes intellectual exchange between disparate cultures possible and in what ways miscommunication perpetuates peace and prejudice alike. Focusing on a series of translation acts unfolding in the shadow of political crises, from the German Enlightenment to early twentieth-century China, we explore how translation of ideas, sometimes without knowledge of foreign languages, exposes the crisis inherent within each culture and affords new avenues for reform and renewal. Why, in moments of political crises and social upheaval, would thinkers look beyond their own traditions to find plausible political proposals? Philosophical encounter and actual encounter, which mode of interaction has a more consequential effect on the self-understanding of individuals and societies? What would remain of each tradition without encountering the other, and in what sense does the self-understanding of individuals and societies involve constant interactions with that which lies beyond themselves? These questions will guide our reading and discussion. All readings will be available in English. No knowledge of Chinese or Japanese is required to succeed in this course.