翻译为何不确定?——奎因翻译哲学研究

Reinterpretation of Quine's Indeterminacy of Translation

奎因的"翻译不确定性"命题被称为"自康德的‘范畴先验演绎’以来的最令人着迷和最为人热议的哲学论题"。这个命题及其相关的"原始翻译"假想实验在奎因哲学体系中占据了核心地位,与其他命题有着千丝万缕的联系。然而不管哲学界还是翻译界,对"翻译不确定性"命题到底为何仍然莫衷一是。本文根据《语词和对象》一书的主要内容,分析"翻译不确定性"命题的缘起背景,理清推理过程,讨论该命题与奎因其他哲学命题的关系,阐释何为奎因的翻译哲学。

Quine＇s thesis of the ＂Indeterminacy of Translation＂（ IT） has been described as ＂the most fascinating and the most discussed philosophical argument since Kant＇s‘Transcendental Deduction of the Categories＇. ＂This thesis and the related ＂radical translation＂experiment are intertwined with Quine＇s other claims and thus dominate Quine＇s philosophical system. Yet it has proved extraordinarily hard to state clearly what IT thesis is about in philosophy and translation studies. This paper,based on the book of Word and Object,tries to explicate the meaning of translation＇s indeterminacy from the theoretical background,the mental experiment of radical translation,and the relationship between IT thesis with other claims.