Jaspers In English A Failure Of Communication.pdf

International Phenomenological Society

Jaspers in English: A Failure of Communication Author(s): C. F. Wallraff Source: Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Jun., 1977), pp. 537-548 Published by: International Phenomenological Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2106433 . Accessed: 07/05/2014 15:58 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

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DISCUSSION JASPERS IN ENGLISH: A FAILURE OF COMMUNICATION Students of the late' Karl Jaspers cannot but be disturbed by the contrast between the abundance of Jaspers literature in English, on the one hand, and the limited range of Jaspers' influence in AngloAmerican countries, on the other. It is as though the more Jaspers is translated, the less he is read. Although as yet there is no English version of his ponderous and provocative Von der Wahrheit,2 still, more than a score of his writings, including several of his most weighty philosophical pronouncements, are now available in English.3 And within the last few years a number of thoughtful books explaining his "Existenzphilosophie" have been published in America.4 This is in line with international trends: more than a decade ago it could be said that nearly a million copies of his works had been sold in Germany,. and that translations of them had appeared in 160 editions in all of 16 different languages.5 At the same time, judging from current philosophical journals, one must conclude that Jaspers' influence in English speaking coun1 Karl Jaspers died of a stroke in Basel, Switzerland, on Feb. 26, 1969, at the age of 86. His wife, Gertrud Jaspers, who throughout his entire life as a scholar served as his amanuensis, died, also in Basel, on May 25, 1974, at the age of 95. 2 A translation of Von der Wahrheit (Munich: Piper, 1947), pp. xxiii, 1103, to be undertaken by Professor Leonard H. Ehrlich, is being considered for publication by the University of Massachusetts Press. 3 Seventeen such works are listed at the very beginning of Philosophy is for Everyman, trans. R.F.C. Hull and Grete Wels (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1965), p. ii. The list can now be enlarged to include that book itself, the larger Nietzsche, Philosophical Faith and Revelation, Existentialism and Humanism, The Future of Germany, and the three volume Philosophy. Cf. Hans Saner, "Bibliographie der Werke und Schriften," Karl Jaspers: Werk und Wirkung, ed. Klaus Piper (Munich: Piper, 1963). For information about possible posthumous publications, see Hans Saner, "Zu Karl Jaspers' Nachlass," Karl Jaspers in der Discussion, ed. Hans Saner (Munich: Piper, 1973) pp. 447-63. 4 Paul Arthur Schilpp, (ed.), The Philosophy of Karl Jaspers (New York: Tudor, 1957); Sebastian Samay, Reason Revisited (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1971); Oswald 0. Schrag, Existence, Existenz, and Transcendence: The Philosophy of Karl Jaspers (Pittsburgh, Pa.. Duquesne University Press, 1971), and C. F. Wallraff, Karl Jaspers: An Introduction to His Philosophy (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1970). A book or series of books on Jaspers by Leonard Ehrlich should soon be published by the University of Massachusetts Press. 5 Klaus Piper, (ed.), op. cit., pp. 13-14. Furthermore, in Japan the entire first edition -15,000 copies in all-of a Japanese translation of Karl Jaspers in Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten (Hamburg: Rowolt, 1970) was sold out, according to its author Hans Saner (personal communication, 5-31-73).

537

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tries is virtually nil. It is as though this remarkable man lies beyond our horizon. Accordingly Jaspers, with whom communication is almost an obsession,6 and who, as James Collins finds, would seem, of all existentialists, "most likely to receive a sympathetic hearing among philosophers in America,"7 is, from our standpoint, virtually incommunicado. The question I should like to consider here concerns the extent to which this state of affairs is in large part a result of faulty English translations. Can it be that these diverge so widely from the German texts that they do not enable even the most knowledgeable and discerning readers to come to grips with Jaspers' thoughts? This is not the usual view of the matter, for it is prima facie apparent that Jaspers has been extremely fortunate in his translators. There are a large number of them: since they frequently collaborate, there are about as many translators as books translated.8 Furthermore, at least half of the work - and by far the most important half has been done by Ralph Manheim and E. B. Ashton, two eminent translators who together constitute, in effect, the voice of Jaspers in America today. Manheim is of course known to a large number of educated readers. His extraphilosophical contributions include translations of three novels by Gunther Grass, and of a novel by Louis-Ferdinand Celine for which he received a National Book Awards prize. It is not surprising that Time has taken him to be "one of the world's most talented translators."' As a philosophical interpreter he has provided, in addition to a short book by Martin Heidegger,10 a series of books by Jaspers: the six lectures on philosophical faith that marked his arrival in Basel,"1 a series of radio lectures constituting an introduction to Existenzphilosophie,l2 essays on the philosophical significance 6 One typical statement, chosen more or less at random from many: "Wahrheit suchen, das heisst immer, zur Kommunikation bereit sein. Kommunikation auch von anderen erwarten." Vom Ursprung und Ziel der Geschichte (Munich: R. Piper, 1950), p. 153. 7 The Existentialists: A Critical Study (Chicago, Ill.: Henry Regnery, 1952), p. 88. 8 A tentative but by no means exhaustive list would include: E. B. Ashton, M. Bullock, K. W. Deutsch, W. Earle, H. E. Fischer, S. Goodman, N. Guterman, M. W. Hamilton, J. Hoenig, R. F. C. Hull, W. Kimmel, W. Kluback, L. B. Lefebre, E. T. Long, R. Manheim, H. T. Moore, C. Paul, E. Paul, E. A. Reiche, P. A. Schilpp, F. J. Schmitz, R. G. Smith, H. F. Vanderschmidt, C. F. Wallraff, and G. Wels. 9 Time, April 13, 1970, p. 73. 10 An Introduction to Metaphysics (New York: Doubleday, 1961). 11 The Perennial Scope of Philosophy (New York, Philosophical Library, 1949).

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of Leonardo, Descartes, and Max Weber,3 and, above all, two large volumes dealing with the history of philosophy.14 Ashton became a translator of Jaspers' books shortly after World War II. He began in 1947 with The Question of German Guilt."5Thereafter he published a series of translations of writings leading up to the monumental Philosophical Faith and Revelation" and the recently completed Philosophy7 - a book which Jaspers regarded as his favorite work."8From the beginning, Ashton impressed his readers as a superior stylist with a remarkable knack for rendering even the most difficult Jaspersian sentences in straightforward and intelligible English. A decade ago I felt that the high level he attained was "more nearly an ideal to be pursued than a goal to be reached."19 Jaspers called him "an outstanding translator."20 And, in addition, as Ward Shaw stated, "Ashton is Jaspers' major English translator."2 In a word, then, about half of the now available translations of Jaspers' works, and far more than half of the translations of his scholarly philosophical22 studies, have been prepared by these two eminent literati. Manheim and Ashton have, in effect, divided the field between them, the former having concentrated on Jaspers' interpretations of "the great philosophers" of the last 2500 years, the latter on Jaspers' own philosophy viewed in its twentieth century context. Given this situation, it is not difficult to evaluate the lines of 12 The

Way to Wisdom (New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 1954). Essays (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1964) 14 The Great Philosophers, 2 vols. (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962-1966). 15 New York: Dial Press, 1947. 16 New York: Harper and Row, 1967. 17 Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1969-71. 18 "Of all my books," Jaspers wrote, "Philosophy is closest to my heart." See "Epilogue 1955" to Philosophy I (Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1969), p. 5. 19 Karl Jaspers, Nietzsche: An Introduction to the Understanding of His Philosophical Activity, trans. C. F. Wallraff and F. J. Schmitz (Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 1965), p. viii. 20 "Herr Ashton ist in der Tat ein hervorragender Ubersetzer." Personal communication, 1-11-62. 21 The Library Journal, Sept. 15, 1969, p. 3070. 22 That Jaspers, wholly apart from his work in philosophy, enjoyed a distinguished career as a psychiatrist should not be forgotten. As a young man he authored a surprising number of scientific articles and reports. (See Schilpp, op. cit., pp. 872-73). In 1913 his Aligemeine Psychopathologie (Berlin: Springer, pp. xv, 338) appeared. The seventh edition of this book, which was completely revised during and after World War II, is now available in a translation by J. Hoenig and M. W. Hamilton as General Psychopathology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964), pp. xxxii, 922. His pathographical analysis, entitled Strindberg und van Gogh, translated by Oswald Grunow, will soon be published by the University of Arizona Press. 13 Three

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communication between Jaspers and the Anglo-American readers, and to estimate the extent to which Jaspers' message is getting through. To this end one need only compare a fair sample of the translations of these two chief interpreters with the German texts, for communication can hardly rise above the level attained by the most gifted and famous of the translators involved - especially when they have done the lion's share of the work. If communication breaks down at this level, then the translations in toto must fail of their purpose. Beginning with The Great Philosophers,23 my objection to this otherwise first rate work of Manheim's (whether the final responsibility lies with the translator, the editor, or the publisher) amounts simply to a protest against the many unindicated and seemingly capricious omissions, both small and large. Surely the statement at the beginning of the book: "Originally published in German as part of Die grossen Philosophen I"24must be taken to mean that this is only the first volume of a two volume translation of the German original (which, indeed, it is), and not that the book is intended as a condensation. Why, then, should an 8 page "Introduction" be substituted for the 73 page "Einleitung" of the original? But this is only one instance: If we concentrate on the lengthy and distinguished section on Kant,25we find that many statements are somehow lost in translation for no discoverable reason. Why tell us, for example, that when Kant was a young man he was "carried away by a whirl of social distractions," and then omit to mention that women of considerable social standing were interested in him - including two English ladies visiting Kdnigsberg?26 And how justify an omission of a brief description of the town of Kdnigsberg?27 23 The Great Philosophers, I (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962) is a translation of about half of Die grossed Philosophen, I (Munich: Piper, 1957). (The other half, plus a section on Nicholas of Cusa, was soon thereafter presented in a second volume.) The English version will hereafter be referred to as GPT, the German as simply GP. Also Philosophical Faith and Revelation (New York: Harper and Row, 1967) will be called PGT, and the original, Der philosophische Glaube angesichts der Offenbarung, (Munich: Piper, 1962), simply PG. Philosophy (Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1967-1971)and Philosophie, the original, (Berlin: Springer, 1956) will be designated as PHT and PH. 24 GPT, p. iv. 25 Published separately as a paperback: Kant, ed. Hannah Arendt (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962), pp. ix, 157. 26GP, p. 398; GPT, p. 231. 27 Ibid.

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However trivial such items may be, it would be difficult to justify the sizable omission that appears in a discussion of the "Ideas of pure reason." Here half a page devoted to the "Ideas" - or principlesof "homogeneity," "specification," and "continuity" is omitted entirely, while the immediately following section which deals with the "methodological," "psychological," and "objective" functions of Ideas is severely pruned.28This is unfortunate, both because of the intrinsic importance of Kant's "Ideas of pure reason," and because of the major role which these Ideas play within Jaspers' own Existenzphilosophie. In a well-known appendix to Die Psychologie der Weltanschauungen29 he stresses their overriding significance. His all-important distinction between the "nonknowledge" of philosophical faith and the knowledge of science30 is based upon the Kantian contrast of Ideas of reason and categories of the understanding. And in 1950 he reaffirmed in Heidelberg the central significance of the source and repository of these Ideas by stating that although he had long used the term "Existenzphilosophie" to designate his own view, he had come to prefer the expression "philosophy of reason" (Philosophie der Vernunft).31 It seems doubtful that Jaspers would have approved of such omissions. In a personal letter to me he expressed himself as opposed to condensation, even in a cheap paperback edition, and added that if a publisher insisted on it, he would wish to participate in the decision-making.32 Ashton's deletions are no less remarkable. Perhaps the policy which he was to follow was best expressed in the "Translator's Note" to one of his earlier and more popular books.33 In this book he admittedly left out some "excursions"34 and "pruned" various elaborations. GP, pp. 467-69; GPT, pp. 282-83. ed.: Berlin, J. Springer, 1954, pp. 465-86. 30See C. F. Wallraff, Karl Jaspers: An Introduction to His Philosophy (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1970) pp. 32-34. 31Vernunft und Widervernunft in unser Zeit (Munich, Piper, 1950), p. 50. 32 Apparently the idea of abridging an original hardback edition never occurred to him: "Sie erwdgen eine verkarzte Paperback-Ausgabe, die nach angemessener Zeit spater erscheinen ko'nnte. Ist es nicht modglich,das Buch unverkurst (!) in dem gleichen Sitze der schon vorliegt, spater als Paperbach heratiszubrigen?" (As it turned out later, the unabridged Nietzsche book was in fact brought out as a paperback without any textual changes at 1/3 the original price.) And further, changes should be made only with his consent: "Wenn der Verleger es unbedingt verlangt, wurden Sie mir vielleicht Vorschldge darhiber machen, welche Teile man auslassen ko'nnte. ... (May 3, 1964). 33The Future of Mankind (Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1961) pp. v-vi. 34Ibid., p. v. 28

29 4th

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Still "this book is not an abridgment,"35 since "all the points, questions, arguments, or theses of the original are in the English version."36

In Jaspers' "Preface" to Philosophical Faith and Revelation Ashton suppresses (perhaps at the request of the publisher and/or editor) Jaspers' explicit rejection of precisely the title which was chosen for the English edition.37 And near the end of this same book he, with seeming arbitrariness, excludes an excursus, though for reasons of his own he includes another.38 Other omissions occur frequently throughout the text.39 But the most serious damage is done, not by unindicated omissions, but by various thoughtless and misleading renditions. Time and again the English version brings about a complete breakdown of communication by falsifying the original. Summarily stated: (1) he creates immense confusion by needlessly obliterating fundamental distinctions; (2) he is careless: he repeatedly provides far-fetched interpretations instead of faithful translations; (3) he frustrates scholars by neither openly employing nor explicitly rejecting Jaspers' Kantian terminology; (4) when speaking in propria persona his superficial, condescending, and extraneous criticisms of Jaspers turn away otherwise interested readers and call his own earnestness and reliability into question. Let us examine these matters in order. 1. Confusion is certainly compounded beyond necessity when, on a single page at the beginning of Jaspers' magnum opus, the same expression, viz., "die Geschichte der Philosophie," is translated both as "philosophical history" and as "history of philosophy."40 This mistake is repeated a few pages later.41 It is simply not the case that, as Ashton affirms, the English language fails to provide any clear way of differentiating between "Realitdt and Wirklichkeit."42 For many years translators have dealt 35 Ibid., 36 Ibid.

p. vi.

37 Jaspers' statement: "Der Titel 'Philosophischer Glaube und Offenbarung' wdre ungemass. Denn er wurde uberlegenzen Standpunkt ausserhalb beider beanspruchen, den ich nicht einnehme." PG, p. 8. Cf. PGT, p. xxvi. 38 PG, p. 484, PGT, p. 325. 39 See PGT, pp. 55, 61, 77, 124, 142, 286-87, 361. Cf. PG, pp. 103, 111, 133, 194, 221, 429-30, 534. 40 PHT, p. 8; PH, p. xix. 41 PHT, p. 14; PH, p. xxvi-xxvii. 42 PHT, p. xvii. A good example of Ashton's practice is found on page 93 of PGT, where "reality" is used for both "Realitdt" and "Wirklichkeit." Cf. PG, p. 155b.

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with this by simply rendering "Wirklichkeit" as "actuality." The distinction is much too important to be overlooked:43 reality, as Jaspers tells us at length, is present to us from the beginning; actuality is the terminus ad quem of philosophizing."44 Wilhelm Dilthey's celebrated distinction between the Naturwissenschaf ten, or natural sciences, and the Geisteswissenschaf ten, or humanistic sciences - a differentiation suggestive of C. P. Snow's "two cultures"45-loses its sense when the latter group is named the "intellectual sciences,"46 as though some sciences were more "intellectual" than mathematics and physics. Here as elsewhere there are precedents that could be followed: Heinrich Kluiver calls the Geisteswissenschaften simply "cultural sciences,"47 Hodges, an authority on Dilthey, proffered the term "human studies,"48while Herbert Spiegelberg49 and Richard Palmer50 prefer the more capricious expression: "the social sciences and the humanities." Jaspers was the first to introduce this distinction to German psychiatrists and it has played an important role in his thinking ever since.51 2. Ashton repeatedly sacrifices semantic to esthetic considerations, factuality to plausibility, accuracy, to style, and clarity antdistinctness to a semipopular and, I believe, meretricious chiaroscuro. Why should he tell us, for instance, that "the use of . . . such words as idea, mind, soul, substance, Existenz, world" "has been held against 43 I agree with Walter Kaufmann's statement in Hegel: Reinterpretation, Texts, and Commentary (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1965): "It is essential to translate Wirklichkeit and ivirklich as actuality and actual, not as reality and real" (p. 381). 44 This point is developed in extenso in Chap. III of Jaspers' Existenzphilosophie (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1964), pp. 55-90. 45 See The Two Cultures (London: Cambridge University Press, 1969). 46PHT, p. 207; PH, p. 188. 47 "Supplement: Contemporary German Psychology," in Gardner Murphy, Historical Introduction to Modern Psychology, 3d ed. rev. (New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1932) pp. 417-456. 48 The Philosophy of Wilhelm Dilthey (London: Routledge & Paul, 1952). 49 The Phenomenological Movement: A Historical Introduction (The Hague, Holland: Martinus Nijhoff, 1960), I, 59. 50 Hermeneutics (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1969), p. 98. 51 See, for example, Jaspers' Allgemeine Psychopathologie (Berlin: Springer, 1959), p. 642. Having used the distinction between "erkldrende" and "verstehende" psychology throughout the entire book, he now relates it to the broader distinction here in question: "Nun ist Naturwvissenschaft zwar Grundlage und iwesentliches Element der Psychopathologie, aber ebenso sind es die Geisteswissenschaften, und dadurch wird die Psychopathologie keineswegs weniger wissenschaftlich, sondern auch auf andere weise wissenschaf tlich. "

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German thinkers in all fields,"52 when, in fact, all but one of these terms belongs to the vocabulary of the British empiricists?53 That he is careless in his choice of words is obvious. The crucial term "Existenz," which he usually italicizes and leaves untranslated the normal procedure today - is, on one occasion, translated as "humanity," and, on another, entirely omitted.54 Since our language would appear to offer the precise equivalent of "Phantasie," one is puzzled at finding that he often translates this term as "imagination,"55 and even, on one occasion, as "mind."56 While "Geist" is explicitly said to mean "mind,"57it is sometimes identified with "spirit,"58 and more often with "imagination."59 One simply does not know when Geist (as basic a term to Jaspers as to Hegel) is meant. Finally, confusion is compounded when "Die Phantasie des Geistes" turns out (incredibly) to mean simply "our imagination."60 It would be easy to expatiate upon the mischief caused by his use of "adopt" for "aneignen,"61the nasty little verb "void" for Hegel's more dignified "aufheben,"62 "existence" for "Dasein,"63 "rapport" for "Verstehen,""4 "mental images" for "Gestalten,"65and the like. PHT, p. 14. This word list, as employed by Jaspers, appears on page 272 of PHT. The British empiricists, of course, used all of them save one. And perhaps we do well to remember that E. B. Tichener, the British psychologist, used the term "Existentialism" to distinguish his Cornell school from other schools. See Edna Heidbreder, Seven Psychologies (New \York. Appleton-Century, 1933), p. 120. 54PGT,p. 5 and p. 60. Cf. PG, p. 31 and p. 110. 55 PGT, pp. 64-66; PG, pp. 114-16. 56 PGT, p. 69; PG, p. 122. 57 PHT, p. xxi. Cf. PGT, p. 64. 58 PGT, p. 347 and 359. Cf. p. 514 and p. 532. 59 PGT, 65, 66 and 69. Cf. PG, pp. 116-17,and p. 122. 60 PGT, p. 64; PG, p. 115. 61 "Translator's Note," PHT, p. xix. It should be noted that I must "assimilate" much that I would be unwilling to "adopt," as, e.g., Berkeley's subjective idealism. 62 Ibid., p. 20. To at least one reader the verb "void" simply reeks of the outhouse and the Krankenhaus. 63 Ibid., p. xvi. To be sure, "Dasein" is often translated as "existence" or "empirical existence." Still the two terms are hardly exact equivalents as Ashton claims. "Dasein" could not possibly be simply the same "existence" that philosophers are accustomed to contrast with "essence." And "existence" is not the "Dasein" which is carefully described on p. 63 of PGT. The meaning of the term is elaborated upon on pages 53-63 of Von der Wahrheit (Munich: Piper, 1947). See also Reason and Existenz, trans. William Earle (New York: Noonday Press, 1955), pp. 54-55. 64Verstehen in Dilthey's sense, a process to which the youthful Jaspers introduced his colleagues, is often translated "understanding." It refers to our direct awareness of the experiences of other persons. See Hodges, op. cit. 65 "Spiel der Formen der Gestalten" becomes (incredibly) "playing with images" (PUT), p. 70). Cf. PG 123. 52

53

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3. That "Jaspers takes his basic philosophical vocabulary from Kant" is said to be "the first hurdle facing a translator."66 But why a "hurdle"? Apparently because the "Kant [who already] exists in English"67 is but a travesty of the original: Some of the German words that gave rise to an "academically sanctioned diet of recondite English expressions" were "mistranslated from the start,"68 and now have to be corrected. Max Muller,69 one gathers, along with Norman Kemp Smith,70 fell short of the mark. Whatever the merits of this contention, it is quite obvious that the invention of a new Kant terminology at this time is bound to place the reader who is acquainted with the generally accepted versions of The Critique of Pure Reason - along with the dozen or so standard histories of philosophyat a distinct disadvantage. While Jaspers was himself a severe critic of the academic philosophies of his day," he would not have defended the radical separatism here represented. For he repeatedly stressed the extent to which philosophic terms receive their meanings from the historic contexts in which they appear. Ashton's version, with its novel vocabulary, is like a historical play in which the main characters have been assigned new and inconsistent names: as though, for example, our primal father is now called Cain, and now Noah. This is no exaggeration. The "I think" which for Kant was the subject of all cognitive activities, is now identified with the "cogito,"72 and now with the "thinking person."73 The "universally valid" (allgemeingiiltig) becomes the "generally valid"74 (generally or usually but not always?), and the verb "scheitern" (to be "shipwrecked" or to

66

PHT, p. xv.

67 Ibid. 68 Ibid. 69 As Walter Kaufmann points out, Max Muller, being "completely bilingual" and a great scholar "was perfectly equipped to translate Kant's Kritik." Philosophic Classics (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. 1968), II, 364. 70 Author of the celebrated A Commentary to Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (New York: Humanities Press, 1962), pp. lxi, 651. 71 See my Karl Jaspers: An Introduction to His Philosophy, p. 4 and pp. 125-130. 72 PGT, p. 64; PG, p. 115. 73 PGT, p. 70; PG, p. 123. 74 PGT, p. 62 and p. 357; PG, p. 113 and p. 528.

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"founder") - a basic cipher - may mean simply "to trip himself,""5 or to have "an end put to . . .xp76 One wonders why Ashton should claim that "der Verstand," (which admittedly "comes from the verb verstehen, to understand")7 being altogether different from "Verstindnis," "the German word for understanding," does not mean "understanding," but "intellect."78 This, of course, is indefensible: (a) It contradicts standard GermanEnglish dictionaries which give "understanding" as the first meaning of "der Verstand."79 (b) It runs counter to Jaspers himself, who carefully explains that it was Spinoza who translated "ratio" as "Vernunft" and "intellectus" as "Verstand," while Kant did precisely the opposite." (c) Being at loggerheads with the usage of knowledgeable readers, it obstructs communication. (d) It is not consistently maintained by Ashton himself, who does not reserve "understanding" for Verstdndnis merely. "Verstehen,"'81and even "Verbindung"82may also mean "understanding." 4. The disparaging comments that appear in the "Translator's Note"83 would, if taken at face value, simply mean that Philosophy is not worth reading. Here we are told - among other things (vide supra) - that Jaspers is a relativist; that he fails to reach firm conclusions; that he does not practice what he preaches; and that he offers preposterous definitions. Let us consider this damning indictment: "To begin with," we read, "relativity is the key to words peculiarly identified with Jaspers . . . Relativism shows . . . in his warnings of absolutizing and definitive conclusions."84 Nothing could be more 75Nietzsche and Christianitv (Chicago: Regnery, 1961), p. 71. Cf. Nietzsche und das Christentum (Munich: Piper, 1947), p. 49. 76 Thus "Die menschliche Dinge scheitern am Chaos wie an der totalen Ordnung" (PG, p. 70) becomes "Either chaos or total order may put an end to life . . (PGT, p. 32). 77 "Translator's Note," PHT, p. xv. 78 Ibid. 79 See, for example, Cassell's New German-English Dictionary (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 80 "If reason,'

1936), p. 676. we translate Spinoza's his

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p. 782.

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82 "Das Verlangen ist, dieses Grundwissen, das Bedingung eines allgemeinen Sichverbindens ist, selber in der Verbindung zu entfalten" (PG, p. 151) becomes "We ask the

that this basic knowledge, understanding." (PGT, p. 83 PHT, pp. xiii-xxi. 84 PHT, p. xiv.

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JASPERSIN ENGLISH: A FAILUREOF COMMUNICATION

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misleading. One can, of course, accept the facts of relativity without being a relativist. And Ashton's own translation shows that Jaspers abhors relativism: In a brief section, entitled "Relativism; Fanaticism; the Void" we find him saying: "Today contemplation has advanced so far that we have grown conscious of it as a universal relativism. Everything is valid from a specific, definable standpoint which I can take, abandon, and change.... The result would be that I am no longer myself. When someone wants to get hold of me I already am someone else.... "85To accept relativism is to give my self up. Jaspers need not be saddled with a "principle of inconclusiveness"86 simply because he calls our attention to such matters as the inability of science to gain complete knowledge of the universe, the obvious limitations of psychology and psychiatry, and the inevitable inadequacy of all human ideas of the Deity. "Inconclusiveness" certainly sounds different in German: that philosophy is "inconclusive" means only that it "remains open" (bleibt offen),87 while a "refusal to be conclusive"88 amounts to no more than "the openness of my expositions" (die Offenheit meiner Darlegungen).89 There is really no reason to say that Jaspers "deplores 'polemicizing against an unnamed author,' " but nevertheless does so himself.90 Jaspers' own statement on this, as translated by Ashton, is surely unexceptionable: "Polemicizing against an unnamed author may be appropriate on issues that are impersonal and widely known; otherwise it expresses disrespect and denies the other's weight."91 It should be added that when Karl Barth polemicizes against Jaspers without naming him, Jaspers takes it with good grace.92 One hardly knows what can be said of the preposterous charge that Jaspers is responsible for "definitions like those of simplicity as a refusal to simplify and of philosophizing as 'building by tearing down what we have built.' "93Why should anyone suppose that such statements were intended as definitions?94 PHT, p. 253. PHT, p. xiv. 87PHT, p. 21; PH, p. xxxv. 88 PHT, p. 23. 89 PH, p. xxxvii. 90PHT, p. xiv. 91PHT, p. 30. 92PGT, p. 325. 93 PHT, p. xv. 94 No definition is intended, of course, when one simply says, apropos of a given procedure, "We are indeed building by tearing down what we have built." PHT, p. 34. 85

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PHILOSOPHY AND PHENOMENOLOGICALRESEARCH

When Ashton retranslated the "Philosophical Autobiography" that Paul A. Schilpp and Ludwig B. Lefebre had prepared for the large volume on Jaspers in "The Library of Living Philosophers,"95 he commented that he was doing over for the "general reader" an essay which "Professors Schilpp and Kaufmann [sic] have done for an academic audience."96Perhaps Philosophy too was prepared expressly for the "general reader." Whether or not this is so, it is to be hoped that some thoroughly trained bilingual student of German philosophy will soon take it upon himself to retranslate both Philosophie and Philosophische Glaube for academic philosophers. Until that occurs, or until a really first-rate translation of Von der Wahrheit appears, Jaspers, as viewed from the English-speaking countries, will remain largely incommunicado. C. F. WALLRAFF. UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA.

95The Philosophy of Karl Jaspers, pp. 5-94. 96 Philosophy and the World, p. 193, n.

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